Scream
by pinkeop
Summary: From now on when I think of you, I scream. -Companion Fic to Girl Anachronism- -AU-
1. Chapter 1

**title** Scream

**author** pinkeop

**summary** From now on when I think of you, I scream. -Companion Fic to Girl Anachronism- -AU-

**authors note ** I know... I couldn't help it! And you ALL know you wanted it! You ALL knew you wanted this damn follow-up fic! This is dedicated to the AMAZING **Finny McFinster Finmiester XV**. Because she had a dream about Ana and Todd and i dont know what happened in the dream, but I'm just ASSUMING that it was some crazy kinky sex thing. -shrugs absently-

Anway... I also wrote this because I just can't leave anything alone. I've always wondered what would have happened if I left Nellie dead and Ana and Todd alive. How differently events would have played out? How would Ana deal with having to continue to be in vicinity of the man who killed her Nellie? What about Toby?

I needed answers! So, here you have it folks. Chapter one of god knows how many. this is a **COMPANION FIC **to my original story, Girl Anachronism and I suggest that those who are just joining us MIGHT wanna go read that one FIRST. Or not. If not, then turn right back around and wag your little booty outta here.

I tried VERY hard to keep Todd in character, all things considered. Or... characterisically out of character... Kinna like when Ana and Todd did it.

Lmao.

ENJOY! And don't forget to READ AND REVIEW!

Love!

Pink Elephants on Parade

--

**chapter one**

_So now I scream_

_I hope it's a dream_

_It's hard just to breath_

_when we said, "Goodbye"._

_Oh, Scream_

_It's not what it seems_

_I still can't believe_

_that we said, "Goodbye"._

Ana tried to keep her unsteady breath calm. Against her throat, with each shaking, raspy breath, she could feel the cold sting of the metal razor, held aloft in her quivering hands. The light coming from the closed furnace in the dark bakehouse was dim and it cast chadows that danced along the walls, swelling to twice the size of their makers. Her eyes, flashing the dim light from the oven, struggled to adjust. Around her wrist she could feel a tight grip that was slowly prying her hand away from her throat. Her lips were bruised and flushed, stinging from the kiss that had just wracked her body. The man in front of her, the barber with the disheveled apperance and the spiney white streak through his hair, gazed down on her with a very determined look in his eyes. It scared her, almost- he pulled her razor wielding hand from her throat and slammed it into the wall by her head, kneeling over her.

"Don't you dare leave me alone," he hissed in dangerously low tones. Ana's brows knit together in what felt like confusion. She was all he had left. His wife lay a few feet away, dead and cold. Her Nellie met the same, albeit worse, fate. Alone, that's what they were- _alone_. But togehter they at least had _someone_. Someone left. Alone they didn't have that. Together they had each other. Could she truely take that away from him- even now as he looked at her with those cold, desperate eyes, Nellie's screams still ringing in her ears, her throat hoarse from her won pathetic screams. Ana's limp fingers dropped the razor and she listened to it clink on the cold stone floor. Sucking in a breath, she forced the tears that threatened to spill away.

Ana sniffed and burnt flesh flooded her nose and made her sick. Her stomach churned.

The barber crushed her body to him, pressing his cheek against the top of her head. She burried her face into his neck, taking deep, slow breaths. Her arms moved to shakily engulf the barber, hugging him close to her. Her hands smoothed almost soothingly along his back. She lifted her face slightly, peering over his shoulder. One of his large ahnds pressed the back of her head. Behind where they crouched, Ana could see the limp body of Lucy, still lain where the barber had left her. The Beadle and the Judge lay still under the trap door in the corner of the bakehouse. She felt sick all over again. She almost wished he had let her slit her own throat, take her own life. But he had practically begged her not to leave him all alone. Who was she to take the last person he had left away? A shuddering sob escaped her lips. The man held her tighter.

Ana pulled back just enough to look Mr. Todd in the face. His pale features looked strikingly harsh when held against the dulling, dried blood. Her hands shook as they cupped his cheeks, her hands small against his face. She brushed her thumbs against his cheek bones. He met her eyes- his were almost dead, but she could see a small glimmer in those black irises- a small sliver of humanity. But not enough to feel romorse for that he had done. She let out a shuddery breath.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Todd," she whispered. The man shook his head. They sat there, arm in arm, unmoving. His fingers rose to her lips and forced her to stop speaking before she could begin. She knew why she was apologising, but the barber did not. She knew she should have told him that his wife, his beautiful Lucy, was still alive the moment that she found out. She knew, but she didn't tell him. Her stomach felt sick- if she hadn't kept it from him, perhaps her Nellie would be alive now. Maybe Mr. Todd would be heart broken, but at least he would have known. Wouldn't he had wanted to known? At least known that his wife was alive, somewhere, instead of leaning that she had been, killed at his own hand? But all she could think was how this was all her fault. But he refused to allow her to appologise and she was almost too afraid to tell him now. Would she meet the same fate as her darling Nellie? She couldn't stop it- it escaped her lips along with a shuddery sob.

"I knew!" she choked. "I knew, I knew, I knew and I didn't say a word! I didn't- I'm-" she shook her head harshly when he clapped a hand to her mouth. Free again, she continued, "I knew your Lucy lived." His eyes widened as he looked down at her, her feeble frame still in his arms. She clutched his shirt and shook him roughly. "I found her by accident- she was hanging about the shop. When Nellie told me, I wanted to tell you, but I _couldn't_. Nellie kept telling me it would hurt you, that you'd gone through enough, and she loved you so much that she feared you and- I... Just.. couldn't... say a word." she threw her arms around his neck and drew him closer to her, feeling his hands go limp around her. "I thought it was for the best. She kept talking about a home by the sea. I thought it would be nice." She sniffed and bit her lip, awaiting his reaction. "I'm so sorry."

Suddenly, his hands were on her shoulder and her body was pressed back into the wall behind her. She let out a gasp of air, stolen from her lungs. She thought maybe he was going to be brutal, perhaps beat her for her sin, then leave her alive. That would be worse. To see the accusation in his eyes every day. If they lived to the morning. That thought made her shudder more than it should have. Her thoughts were drawn back to the barber as Sweeney Todd shook her with violence. 

"Shut up," he was growling at her, and she realized he'd been repeating it as she still hadn't stopped sputtering out weak, "Forgive me"s. 

She bit down on her lower lip. He grabbed her face in his hands and leaned his own very close. He scared her- oh, how she _feared_ him. He didn't say a word. Instead, he pressed his forehead against her own and his grip on her shoulders tightened so much she could feel the bruises seeping to the surface of her pale skin. 

"Just shut up," he begged. The grief in his voice broke her heart, and she sucked back a suddery sob. Her eyes flicked passed him as a bit of movement in the corner of the bake house made her heart beat wildly in her chest. From the grate below where the stink came up from the sewers, was climbing a figure. It took her a minute to realize it was Toby- his hair was completely white, dusty looking, perhaps from climbing in the sewers. Perhaps he'd gone just as insane as the rest of them. She moved her lips to Mr. Todd's ear, franticly whispering,

"Toby," she breathed. "Toby. It's Toby."

Mr. Todd whirled back, releasing her arms and letting her slump limp against the wall. The boy stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes flashed with the fire as they flickered towards the open bake-house door, and he made a wild dash towards it, but Mr. Todd was quicker. Ana looked away when the man grabbed the boy by the scruff of his neck, throwing him back with one strong arm. Compared to that, he'd been right gentle with her all those times, she thought idly.

Toby fell back into a puddle of red, watery liquid with a splash on the floor. A hard look covered his face, glaring with all his might right up at the man who towered over him with a branished razor in his big hand. As Ana looked on, she couldn't find the fear in the young boy's eyes- it was all drowned by rage and accusation. He pushed himself away,s liding over the floor on his haunches, away from his fate. That would be his fate, she knew almost as instantly as Sweeney Todd raised his hand, the one that held his razor. That precious razor. Poor thing, poor thing. Ana felt another tug at her snipped heart strings- Nellie wouldn't have wanted Toby to meet the very same end as every other poor bloke that crossed the path of Sweeney Todd- at least not at his same hands. Ana opened her mouth, but it was dry as was her throat, and not a sound escaped her vocals. But Toby managed to beat her to the punch,

"Did you harm 'er, too?" the boy spat, his young voice a high-pitched trill. Ana's eyes grew wide when his shaking finger pointed directly at her. She swallowed thickly and met Sweeney Todd's eyes as he looked down at her. The stricken look of grief on his face surprised her and weighed heavy on her heart. "You shouldn't harm nobody," he boy continued, sounding just like a poor, crazy nutter. Poor thing. Poor, poor thing. Ana looked on, her eyes on Sweeney Todd, more importantly, Mr. Todd's face. He looked back to Toby, and that grief was gone, replaced with vengence. Or rage. Or both and many more.

"Look away, Ana," the barber warned, his voice strangely boyant. He glanced at her briefly, before turning his head towards her completely when she did not obey him. "Look away!" he roared between clenched jaws.

Ana drew her knees to her chest, looked down and clapped her hands against her ears. She squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't want to look, to hear or to know at all what would be young Toby's fate. She thought, maybe she should have protested against what were about to happen. Didn't she owe it at least to Nellie to keep her young Toby safe? The boy she'd grown to see as a little brother? She couldn't let him kill him- he didn't deserve to die at the hands of Sweeney Todd. No, not a demon. No, not Toby. Poor, young Toby---

"No!" Ana found herself screeching, her voice dry. When she looked up, Toby was heaved off the ground, against the farthest wall, Mr. Todd's arm raised poised over his head, razor ready to slice open one last throat. The boy stared his death bravely in the eye, but the moment Ana's yawp escaped her strained vocals, both men turned their heads sharply. Mr. Todd looked concerned, Ana noted- but it had to be a trick of the light, because he instantly darkened to a look of annoyance. Toby looked impatient, even a bit crazy. After so long, with death dangling in his face and nothing left to live for, Ana figured she would be a bit impatient as well. But for Nellie, she couldn't- she just couldn't let Sweeney Todd take young Toby's life. Poor thing. Poor thing...

"Ana, do as I say," Sweeney Todd snarled. "Look - Away - NOW!"

"Don't kill him!" Ana said limply, begging with him. The man curled back his lip at her out burst and gave a heaving sigh of annoyance. Toby turned his face away, lifting his chin, exposing his throat even. Ana whimpered. "Don't kill him. Please, just don't kill him."

The barber looked between the dangling boy and Ana, then nodded his head towards the bakehouse door. "Get upstairs," he commanded. "Clean yourself up. Go..." Ana didn't move. "I said, GO!" His voice was loud and filled with annoyance and impatience at Ana's disobeying. Realizing she was getting no where, Ana shot him one last look- one that told him, clearly, that her immediate forgiveness on this matter was shot out of the window, and she stood, clutching her stomach, and feeling her legs about to give out as she moved to the bakehouse doors. She didn't look back as she closed the door behind her, leaving it unlocked. Everything was instantly _cold_, as the night air traveled down the stair well and hit her face and her arms. She looked down at her hands. They were stained with blood from where she'd so tightly gripped Mr. Todd's still soaking wet shirt.

She felt oddly subdued. Unable to feel. It occured to her, breifly, as she climbed the stairs into the street around the pie-shop, that if Toby had been in the sewers all the time, then the law hadn't been notified. The Judge and the Beadle and... and Nellie... they would be all gone, evidence ridden of, if Mr. Todd had his way, by morning. Toby, as well. She was shaking by the time she actually made it inside the pie shop. It was just as she'd left it. Part of her was expecting to be having to clean up some big mess, as the bake house had left the images of orange light and red blood burned in her eyes.

Sitting down at the booth, Ana crossed her arms and laid her head down on the table top. She took three, shuddering breaths before she let out a terrfied little sob.

"Get up," a rough voice commanded and Ana's head shop up with a scream. Mr. Todd hovered over her, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her around to the counter. She saw that he'd already filled the wash basin with cold water, and a rag was in his free hand. He moved stealthily, Mr. Todd did. She winced when he pulled her to a stop on the other side of the counter.

"Where's Toby?" she whispered. The barber said nothing as he began pulling at the ties and laces on her dress, pushing it every so gently off her shoulders, helping her step out of it.

"What'd you do with Toby?" she asked. "He's comin' up, isn't he? Silly thing, always was a little on the slow side... always liked to dawdle..."

Mr. Todd remained silent, his eyes forced on her face as he pulled the corset off her body and letting air rush greedily into her lungs. He pulled off another layer, and left her simply in her pink stockings and her slip. But, modestly, he did not look at her body, slightly see through witht he cool silk slip. He forced her to sit on the stool and she did so without question, turning her head to look around the shop absently as he dipped the rag into the water.

"I wish Toby would hurry back up here," she murmured. "Do you think he would help me make the pies now? What with Nellie gone back home all sudden-like..." Her mind felt like it was folding in on itself. In the back of her brain, she knew exactly why Toby wasn't up, where Nellie was, and such like and forth with. She knew without a doubt. But the child in her- the _innocence_ that Mr. Todd seemed intent to squish -make up excuses. Made up stories. 

Were the visions of her home just stories, then? She wondered. Were they really just stories? If she was making up where the boy and the baker were now, why couldn't she have made up her life before her fever? It was plausible. Perfectly plausible. But she didn't feel ill. She just felt in shock. Could someone die of shock? Surely, they could... Mr. Todd again did not respond to her babbling, and he gently moved the cloth over her face, coming away with sweat and dirt and grime and even some blood. She closed her eyes as he gently swept the rag over her lids and along her cheek bones. He scrubbed down her neck, to the swell of her breasts, then over her arms, taking care with her hands, holding each one in his own. She shivered as the cool water droplets dried on her skin.

"Is he coming back up, Mr. Todd?" she asked, her voice strained. "Where is he, Mr. T? Where's Toby?"

"Gone home, alla sudden," the man said gruffly, almost annoyed as his eyes snapped back up to her, holding no tolerance for her to be going crazy. "Said 'e missed 'is mum. I 'elped 'im back home, is all, Ana. Just helped him back home, is all."

Ana nodded softly as he ran the rag over her forehead once more. Giving a sigh, he stepped back and began to undo his vest. "The good news is, you don't have a fever," he said. "'Fraid another one of them might do you in." He began shrugging out of his blood-stained shirt, kicking it below the counter to be dealt with later.

"C'mere, Mr. T," Ana found herself saying, fascinated with the way the blood had seeped through and stained his bare skin, his chest broad. She could see a purple bruise in the middle of his chest where she'd accidently hit him in the middle of the night... _that_ night, not long ago at all. A days hours, maybe. The man stepped towards her and stood between her legs as she sat there on the stool. Taking the cloth, she began to gently scrub at his face like he had done for her, watching the blood slowly reveal the hardened face of a man that had, at one point, been almost gentle with her. Now she was sure when he touched her, he left behind a harsh purple mark. She washed the blood away from his arms and chest, even daring the run the cloth over his stomach, though there was clean.

Ana looked up at him as he gently took the cloth away from her.

"What's gonna happen, Mr. Todd?" she whispered.

The man placed his hands gently on her shoulders and heaved her to her feet. Turning her, he moved her through the shop, and into the parlor. The fire still crackled. The world seemed to have been completely untouched above the bake-house. Ana felt disoriented, as if the whole of London should know what had just gone on down there. "You," the barber said in response to her earlier question. "Are going to lay down and sleep. I'm going to stay awake a while, make sure the Judge's disappearance wont draw questions here. And if they do, with no chance of escape, I will wake you, and we _will_ escape." 

Ana turned sharply before he managed to get her inside the room. "I want to say up with you," she said softly.

"You need sleep," the man ordered, wrapping one large arm around her shoulders and pulling her into the bedroom. He helped her into bed and under the covers, turning to leave without a word. Ana shivered as she was in just her slip and not the warm cotten night gown she was very accustomed to. She pulled the quilt high around her chin and pressed her face into the pillow. It smelt like cinnamon and flour and warm pies. All the smells that surrounded Nellie every waking moment, and here it was, ground into the old matress and the warm sheets and the soft pillows.

She didn't realize she was crying under the sound of her own shattering sob reached her ears. She was doing a lot of this, she realized offhandedly as she rolled onto her back and tried to catch her breath. Crying. Far too much for her own self. If her mother saw her? Oh, what a whipping she would get! She supposed she could look at all the tears as a good thing- maybe it meant she had actual emotions.

Ana rolled over, far too accustomed to feeling the bakers body beside her, far too used to the woman grumbling about her cold toes and wrapping an arm around her shoulders as she snuggled into her shoulder. She grasped frantically around where the baker should be sleeping and found herself crying harder, so much to where she could hardly breath. Her legs, tangled in the sheets, kick and her hands clawed to be free of the quilt, of the smell, of the guilt, of the memories- of the _memories_, Nellie's soft hair scratching her face and the woman's warm embrace in the middle of the nights. How her heart hammered in her viens whenever she was caught sneaking back into bed after a midnight think out in the shop. 

The bedroom door was banged open and a body nearly lept onto the bed, arms grabbing at her wrists and yanking her upward, forward, and then down. The blankets were moved off her, and she was suddenly captured in a tight embrace. "You want to wake all of London?" a harsh tone snarled in her ear as she continued to sob. "Quiet yourself!"

Ana supposed Mr. Todd had no idea how to console someone, but just being in his cold arms- a new, white shirt now adoring his chest -was enough to enrage her and calm her all at once. The fury came first as she twisted and writhed and hit her hands against his chest. She was shouting things at him, but she couldn't make out her own words, but she figured he could. And he only held her tighter, not letting go. Rocking them. When she found it hard to breath, she fell limp in his grasp, taking large gasping breaths as she pressed her forehead into his throat, the tears drying on her cheeks. 

"Breath," he instructed every once in a while when she would hiccup and have a small panic attack.

"I hate you," she gasped out.

"As you should," the man grumbled back, seeming to clutch her closer.

"I have nothing left," she managed, sniffing her words.

"That makes the two of us," he responded blandly.

"Don't leave me alone," she begged suddenly. The man did not respond to this, and instead just menuvered them to both be laying on Nellie's bed- she noticed how slyly he put her on the inside by the wall, so that he could possibly sneak out of bed later in the night- or early morn -when she'd finally fallen into slumber. The bed, she discovered, was better than the cot, and he lay with her head in his shoulder, tucking her close to his body.

Ana fell into a restless slumber. Throughout the night she was plauged with dreams of what would come by morning, and of what happened the night before- the events that had taken place in the bakehouse. She woke at random intervals to choking on her own sobs, and a figure would enter the room, the door wide open, and sit there on the edge of the bed. She found this oddly comforting, and would soon slip back into sleep.

What would happen the moment the morning gray touched the sky, Ana did not know. What did know, however vaugely, was that Mr. Todd needed _someone_ to look after him- and god forbid she leave him to fend for himself. 


	2. Chapter 2

**title** Scream

**author** pinkeop

**summary** From now on when I think of you, I scream. -Companion Fic to Girl Anachronism- -AU-

**authors note **Whelp, here we go! Chapter two! I'm glad you guys liked chapter one from where we picked up with Ana and Todd in the bakehouse. I'm sad that Nellie had to stay dead- trust me, if it were up to me she would be alive. Buuuuut see Todd would 'ave killed her ANYWAY, so let's just give her a not so gruesome death, eh? And Toby... well, that little rat hadda go. He was gonna go running to the law, we all saw it coming. So... the boy had to be d-e-a-d.

If you'll notice, in chapter one and this chapter, Ana's thoughts are almost darkly comical. Most of time when it says, "She wondered..." it'll be followed by "passively", "idly", "calmly", "comically"... because she's about to think of something that doesn't really have to do with the situation had hand because she doesn't know what else to DO with the situation. She doesn't know how to deal with it, so her mind is making it funnier than it seems. Because that's the only way she can seem to deal with it.

So... just in case you guys didn't catch that.

Mr. Todd and Ana share the connection that Nellie wanted to have with him, just in case you were wondering about that as you read the chapter. If you read Girl Anachronism, you know there are obvious feelings between the two, though most likely NOT love. It's not like they have very high cultured conversations, but they share their thoughts with each other, because they're all they have left.

Just to clear that up.

Soo...

Chapter two? Read and review! Love!

Pink Elephants on Parade

**--**

**chapter two**

_I wish had qualities like_

_Sympathy_

_Fidelity_

_Sobriety_

_Sincerity_

_Humility_

_Instead I got lunacy_

Ana awoke on her own in the midmorning, dull sunlight streaming through the window and leaving a warm square of light on the rug. She awoke slowly at first, streching her legs all the way to her toes and her arms above her head, brushing against the wall at the head of the bed. She rolled over to the side, finding the bed empty beside her. A frown graced her lips. Where was Nellie? Was she up already? Wasn't it Sunday? Ana rolled over again, peering around the room. The bedroom door was wide open. W hen she sat up, the girl found, in surprise, that she was just in her slip and pink stockings. Why had she fallen asleep in that? A frown escaped across her lips. Pushing the blankets off her body, Ana swung her legs around and stood from the bed. Every single part of her body hurt and even her stomach felt a little nausious. With weak legs, Ana stumbled out of the bedroom, surprised with how bright the palor looked, warm with the summer day. Goodness- where in the world was her Nellie?

When Ana entered the shop, she came face to face with, not the baker, but Sweeney Todd, who looked completely worn and weary. His black hair was disheveled, the sleeves of his white shirt pulled up around his elbows. He looked up weakly as he sat in the booth. Ana felt her breathing get very short as she gazed throughout the shop. The night before came back to her like a slap in the face. It had all happened so fast. So quickly. Too fast. Too quickly. It all seemed like a dream. That's what it had to be- a dream. Ana felt the wind knocked out of her. A breath of air escaped her lips.

"Oh," she whispered, leaning against the wall by the door. Mr. Todd peered at her.

He grunted a greeting lazily, looking down to the glass of gin he held in his hand. Pouring it to the rim, he gestured for her to come over. Ana stepped to him without arguement and allowed him to pull her onto the bench. He handed her the glass.

"Drink it down," he ordered. The girl sighed and swallowed large gulps of the gin, downing the entire glass rather quickly. It did nothing to dull the pain that clutched her chest and made her want to scream and cry out in pure agony. It hit her like a ton of bricks. Nellie was gone. Toby was gone. And Mr. Todd sat just to her left, showing no remorse for what he had done, waht he had caused, staring blankly out the window, out into the street where Johanna and Antony had-

"Oh!" Ana squeeked, setting the glass down on the table. "Johanna, sir! Antony got her safely here and away! She's gone and safe now."

Mr. Todd turned his attention on her, a frown crossing his lips. Ana looked away, out the window. "She was the young lad you found int he trunk- dressed like a boy. When you went down to see why..." Ana cut off and looked at the table. "...she came running down the stairs not long after. Antony took her away in a coach. At least one good thing came out of this night, wouldn't you say, Mr. Todd? I fancy Antony would take her to wed in France. They're free from the ghosts for a short while. How nice, eh Mr. T?" Ana turned to look at him. He was gazing down at the table, perhaps grasping at the memory of Johanna, dressed in boy clothes. Reaching over, she grabbed his hand in her own, lacing their fingers. It was a small attempt at consolation, evne though she knew that he didn't deserve it. The look of grief on his face was too much for her to ignore. She squeezed his hand gently. Sweeney Todd looked her in the face, both of them grief stricken. She held him tighter.

Finally, the man let out a roughly disgusted sigh, looking out that window out the shop quietly. "An officer was here early this morning," he revealed. Ana's blood froze for a few minutes, as the man gave a dramatic pause for good affect. She frowned. "Said that the Judge 'ad been missin' since 'e'd coem from court, an' said 'e 'ad reason to believe 'e'd come 'ere." A slow smile over took the barber's lips and his eyes shone with disgusting delight. "O'course, I told 'im 'e'd been 'ere an' left. Said I'd hear a disturbance down the street after 'e 'left'..." The man chuckled sharply. "Every piece of evidence 'as been burnt." He suddenly looked very tired. "An' the bake'ouse floor cleaned thrice over. The last of the meat ground down for maybe 10 dozen pies." He tore his hand away from Ana's and brought it to his mouth, pressing his lips against his curled fist. "There's not trace that we've ever sinned here. I let the officer look all he liked. When he left he was still apologising profusely for disturbing my sunday morning." His eyes turned to Ana.

She listened with curiosity, the knot in her stomach growing tighter and tighter with every word. Had he been up all night, scrubbing stained blood and borning bodies? His eyes grew very tired, as if a large weight had suddenly been taken off him. Ana looked around the shop. Was it all over? Ana wondered. For _real_ this time, was it all over? The judge was dead. Beadle. Lucy. Nellie. Even Toby. All that was left was herself and the demon barber. 

She wondered idly if he would end up killing himself? The look on his face seemed almost dead anyway. The thought made Ana almost shiver. With his revenge taken, what left had the barber to live for? Herself, perhaps, maybe? He had forced her to keep on living, when she had wanted to take her own life. Maybe he knew something she didn't. As Ana pondered and mulled over these thoughts, Mr. Todd leaned his head back against the back of the bench and slouched, letting out a slow breath. Her eyes traced every line in his face. His features, though tired, seemed relaxed and calm. It was enough to bring a smile to Ana's face. She found herself corrupted and blackhearted enough to think passively how much the barber deserved some peace. Peace after returning home from 15 years of false imprisonment to find he'd lost his wife and child, yes. Peace from that. Peace, however, after all his sins? No. He didn't deserve that. She supposed the accusation in her eyes that he would have to endure seeing day after day was enough punishment, bcause some higher power above had stopped them from a hanging.

"S'over, then, is it?" Ana asked quietly, almost afraid to disturb the quiet that had settled over the shop. Beause he looked ever so peaceful, for once, resting there beside her. Mr. Todd opened his eyes and glanced over at her. They were slightly glazed and Ana felt sorry for disturbing him with her silly questions. Mr. Todd, however, nodded.

"I suppose it would seem so, Analise," Sweeney Todd answered. Ana nodded. After a long lull, the girl stood to her feet.

"Get up," she instructed. The man, she decided, needed sleep. A good, long sleep in the afternoon that would make him wake up hours later in the late sun-set evening hours smelling of nap and feeling well rested. He wasn't going to get that sleep there in the shop. Mr. Todd glared right at her and pulled his lip back in a snarl. This didn't faze her, however. Those looks hardly did. It was when he put his hands on her, that was when she found herself feeling slightly afraid. But he looked far too miserably exhausted to do anything of harm to her. But, if he really wanted, she figured he could. Snapping her fingers, Ana raised a brow. "You heard me," she said sternly. "Get up. You're laying down in Ne- my room." She felt the grief cross her face for a few moments. But it was enough for Mr. Todd to notice.

The man stood slowly and gracefully, placing a hand on the back of Ana's neck. Taking his other hand in her own, once more lacing their fingers together, she pulled him along with her. He walked quite willingly. It was a wonder, not having to pass quietly through the parlor, even if they did so willingly silent. Once inside her room- for it was her's and her's alone, even if the bed still smelt of warm cinnamon and flowers -Ana let go of his hand, dropping her own to her sides.

"You can sleep here," she told him lackidaiscally. "You could use it."

Mr. Todd looked between her and the bed, and for once- to her very great surprise -did not argue with her. He admitted defeat to his exhaustion and she watched as he greatfully crawled onto the bed and burried his face into the pillow she used for sleeping. She wonder if it smelt like her. She watched him for a few minutes, lain on his back, arms flopped wherever they landed, one leg tucked under him. She placed one hand on the bed so she could lean to brush her lips over his forehead. 

"I'll see what I can make for lunch for when you wake up," she told him warmly, her voice soft. His eyes fluttered open momentarily and his lip pulled back in a snarl. Raising one hand he placed it at her throat, and pushed her back away from him. Taken aback, Ana shot him an angry glance, before whirlling and exiting the room, slamming the door closed behind her. She listened to the creak of the bed inside the room before she moved much more slowly back into the shop.

Everything felt sort of slow. Like the morning after a big party. Except she wasn't hung over drunk and her father wasn't pulling her out of the bed by the covers while her television played static. Having watched Nellie do it a million times and knowing exactly how, Ana went about making herself and Mr. Todd a pot of oatmeal. It took her longer to find everything, however, because when Mr. Todd went on his spree of extracting evidence he had put things in their NOT proper place. She wondered in passing whoever taught that man that spoons went in the same little wire basket that knives did!

When Ana had finished getting things back in their proper place- making a bit of a mess when she managed to do so -she went about making the oatmeal. She was so hungry, she almost ate it cold, but instead set it on the fire to heat, sitting on the stool as she waited. It was there, sitting in the kitchen, that Ana suddenly came to the realization that she was still in just her slip. Looking down at herself she gave a little chuckle. How odd. Giving one last glance at the pot of oatmeal, she quickly got up and scuttled into the parlor, opening the bedroom door slowly as to not wake what she hoped was a sleeping Mr. Todd. Laying on the bed, in the same position she'd left him, was indeed poor Mr. T, fast asleep, snoring very softly. She tilted her head, pausing at the door. She never pictured Mr. Todd one to snore. It was enough to make her have to place her hand over her mouth and stiffle a chortle.

Tip toeing across the room, Ana went to the small closet. On seperate sides were her dresses, and Nellie's dresses. Feeling her breathing start to get scarse, Ana quickly grabbed a warm blue dress searched for her corset. Finding it laying in a pile of clothes in the corner, she began to pull that on, awkward as it was without Nellie to help her. She spent a good ten minutes grunting and reaching her arms around her back to try and clip and tie it in place, sucking in her breath so that her stomach would be small enough to fit, as she'd never been the thinest stick on the tree. 

Cold hands pushed her own out of the way and she let out a yelp in surprise. Looking over her shoulder, Mr. Todd stood behind her and was expertly helping her into her corset, pulling the ties closed. She sucked in her breath more and winced lightly. He was much more rough that Nellie was, the other woman always having left a little leeway whenever she tied the damn thing on.

"Why do you women wear these things?" he asked in digust. Ana frowned. She wasn't even sure. Her shoulders lifted and fell in a shrug. When the blasted thing was on, the man placed his hands carefully on the curve of his hips and pulled her back against him. She held her breath for a moment as his cheek rested against the side of her head. He spun her around so suddenly that her _head_ was spinning as he looked down at her with a tired contempt in his eyes. Ana furrowed her brows and pushed him back, turning to slid on her dress.

"I have oatmeal I need to tend to," she said snottily, glancing at him as he stood there, watching her. "And you have sleep to catch up on." Once her dress was firmly in place, smooth and unwrinkled, Ana turned to look at him, hands on her hips. Mr. Todd glared at her. Finally, his eyes softened a considerable amount.

"Why you still 'ere?" he asked softly. Ana knew that he wasn't just talking about being there in the room while she had oatmeal on the stove. Looking away from him, conviently out the window, she wrinkled her nose and shrugged.

"Cause you need me," she answered him after a short pause, her lips twitching up in a smile. "And god be damned, I think I just might need you too." She looked at him. "You stayed up all night after all of that and made sure you and I wouldn't get caught." She shrugged again. "The least I could do."

Sweeney Todd did not- could not -look her in the eye, she noticed, and he waved a hand. "Leave me," he whispered. She did not fight him this time- he would need sleep. She instead touched his arm as she left the room, skirts of her dress swishing around her legs as she closed the door, much quieter this time, behind her.

It was much later in the day when Sweeney Todd ventured back into the shop. Ana sat at the counter. She had been staring, for the longest time, out those windows at the late-afternoon foot-traffic of Fleet street. She barely noted the man step into the shop until he crossed infront of her vision to step around the counter, watching her with a wary expression. A smile flit across her lips, but it was weak and halfhearted.

"Did you sleep well?" she asked him. The man grunted, but nodded his head nonetheless. "Good," she went on. "Mr. T, I've been doing a lot of thinkin out here--"

"Have you?" he inturrupted as he grabbed the bottle of gin and two glasses.

"---yes, I have," she went on, slightly irritated. "And I was thinkin'... that. Well, we can't stay _here_, can we? Someone's bound to notice that... Mrs. Lovett... isn't here, and this _is _ Mrs. Lovett's Meat Pie Shoppe, and---"

"Gone away to the seaside," Mr. Todd said simply. "Left 'er business to you to do with what you wished. Retired. 'Er old bones couldn't take much more of the city life."

"---yes, well..." Ana sighed and grabbed the glass he poured for her and sipped lightly at the gin. "You may be perfectly happy here, still here, but I'm not. Things happened her, Mr. T. You can't clean all the evidence in the world away to say things haven't happened her. And to get a good night's sleep in a house where such things happened---"

"And do you expect the ghosts to just stay here if we leave?" the man questioned boldly.

"---I just don't _like_ it, Mr. Todd!" Ana whined. "I didn't like it to begin with. And I don't want to be here any more."

"And where do you expect we go?" he asked. When she said nothing and instead just looked down at the table, he sighed. "We have enough money for you to afford meat- real meat. Give it a few months," he took a step towards her, pulling her over by the arm and resting his chin on the top of her head as she was tucked against his body. "If angels could prevail, we'd be the way we were."

"No more killing?" she whispered.

Mr. Todd's hand flexed around the neck of the bottle. "No promises," he murmured. Ana grunted.

"_You_ can take care of them corpses, then," she told him, pulling away and downing the last of her gin. Darkly, Mr. Todd chuckled.

"We'll open shop tomorrow, then!" he said, clicking the bottle with the gin glass and turning deftly. He exited the court door and left it open as he stomped up the stairs to his shop. Ana held her breath until she heard his loud, pacing foot steps across the floorboards. A smile spread over her lips as she went to sit out in the court, the warm summer air kissing her skin, the sun making the world not seem as bleak.

Oddly, enough, perhaps she should have been more shaken, but strangely not, Ana felt almost content at that moment in time as she looked over her shoulder up to the barber shop to see that he had left his door open to the summer air.

It wasn't like they were every going to be okay. But maybe they could get by.


	3. Chapter 3

**title** Scream

**author** pinkeop

**summary** From now on when I think of you, I scream. -Companion Fic to Girl Anachronism- -AU-

**authors note **Hey guys! I had to rewrite this entire chapter because it was flowing too quickly and very choppy and I didn't want to disappoint my darling reviewers! So here you are, chapter three! You guys get a lovely little surprise in this chapter, though those who think back to "Girl Anachronism" won't be TOO surprised...

But it was an undeniably FUN chapter to write. And this chapter is rated **MATURE** and not for young eyes, zomg don't look little virgin childrens aaaaaaaahh!

Ok. And also, Ana is a little coo-coo in the head. Just a little. You would be to if you lived after wtf happened to her in the bakehouse. Gosh!

Have fun. And don't forget to read and review.

AND ANADERE or whatever you spell your silly name, yesterday was my BIRTHDAY and my mommy got me the sweeney todd SOUNDTRACK with- omg, the BOOKLET!

What now? Wot. WOT? That's right. -sends lots lof love-. This chapters for you. ;

Cos I know how much you like naughty stuff.

Love!

Pink Elephants on Parade

**chapter three**

_you'll be loved_

_Like you never have known_

_The memories of me_

_Will seem more like bad dreams_

_Just a series of blurs_

_Like I never occurred_

_Someday you will be loved_

It all happened at the end of May. 

The first week afterwards was, for Ana, like crawling slowly through a nightmare, waiting all day and night to wake up. Sweeney Todd stayed up in his shop, moody as ever and constantly pacing. Ana didn't go up to bother him any more than three times to bring him up breakfast, lunch and dinner. Whenever she would bring him those poorly cooked meals that she'd managed to put together, he would literally heave her by the arms out of the shop. He didn't tolerate her presence very well and she blamed that first week of his livid rage to the fact that he was quitting killing cold turkey. And yet, even with his revenge out of the way, Sweeney Todd was a killer. To rid the world of London's vermin was what the barber had been designed to do. He was a well oiled machine. Quick and quiet and clean he was- when you took that away from him, Sweeney Todd wasn't sure what to do with himself.

He got better. June came in with hot, uncomfortable weather and the door to Mr. Todd's shop was almost always open, hoping to catch a few cool breezes on the air. He had been right- with enough money to buy veal and pork, the pies practically paid for themselves. Ana found herself almost always on the go, and often remembered how her Nellie had been the very same way. A few regulars questioned where Nellie Lovett had gone away to, and the lie came so frequently and easily from her lips that a small part of her yearned to believe that somewhere by the sea was the kind faced baker who constantly smelt of flour and cinnamon. Ana didn't understand the softened look of pity she recieved one night from Mr. Todd when she casually asked if they could go to the sea someday and pay Nellie a visit. It was in the middle of June that Ana would feel sick in the mornings after particularly long nights running to and from the bake house, and then making the next batch of pies for the morning. She attributed that to being overworked.

But the sickness didn't go away, not even as June came to a close and July swept in, just as hot and uncomfortable as the month before it. But Ana learned to deal with it, working around her nausious stomach, forever forgetting to mention such a problem to her Mr. Todd. Soon, July was sweeping past with surprising ease and regularity that Ana forgot all about her sickness and reveled in what she had created for herself. Mr. Todd was growing accustomed to being a barber again. Ana had made him a sign on a piece of wood, reading, "_Easy shaving for a penny, as good as you'll get as any_", which she set up at the bottom of the stairs. He had thanked her for this with a kiss on the forehead, before retreating into his shop to pace and await the first days customer. He was getting better, her Mr. Todd. Almost seemed less brooding, but forever he would be her harsh Mr. T, granting her affection whenever only no one was around to see it. But of course, that didn't stop people from talking about how it wasn't right, wasn't proper, for a young woman such as herself to be living under a man such as Sweeney Todd.

For the most part, it was all talk. They did share a bed, her and Mr. Todd on odd occasions when the man saught her out. Only twice did she go up stairs after she'd gotten into her own bed, both times she ended up only curled up in his lap sound asleep, dreaming of the shore and of a warm baker. The other times in which they shared a bed, Mr. Todd came looking for her. Sometimes he wouldn't say a word, and would instead coax her out of her night gown and his trousers. Sometimes he would merely sit on the edge of the bed while she read late into the night, usually falling sleep with the book on her chest. Other times he would just come and sleep in the same bed with her, either with his arms around her, or with his back towards her and the wall. Ana didn't complain, didn't mind. She had no preference whether he held her or ignored her or fucked her.

But she particularly enjoyed it when he held her.

It was around the middle of August, as summer was rolling to a close and Ana was getting fairly used to Mr. Todd coming down to the shop inbetween customers and doing small, little things, like taking a tray from her full hands out to the customers and pouring ale, that Ana noticed something peculiar. It was a warm night that night and she was dragging off her dress as Mr. Todd sat on the bed. Ana felt tired and exhausted and her stomach was tossing and turning as she stepped out of the pool of dress around her ankles, shrugging off her corset. Once it was off, her stomach settled almost instantly and she felt as if she could work another full day right then and there. She placed her small hands on her stomach, rubbing it in slow circles. It was slightly taught.

Curiously, Ana stepped back a few steps and peered at herself in the full glass mirror Mr. Todd had bought for her. She let her slip settled around her. In the mirror on the bed she could see the barber watching her with tolerant amusement and light curiosity painted on his face. Ana's brows met in the middle of her forehead as she turned to the side and placed her hands on her hips, pulling the slip taught against her body. How curious- her belly was bigger. Which was odd, because she'd been eating less in the mornings, what with her nausious stomach, and didn't have time to eat during lunch, and usually only ate a pie after the dinner rush had left. Mr. Todd fended for himself rather well, sneaking down to the bakehouse to get a pie inbetween customers. He was quite the hunter. But no, Ana didn't eat much and was often scolded by her room mate for doing such.

So it scared Ana to see her stomach protuding farther than it should. Her first thought was some horrible sickness that would cause such bloating. Then she calmed herself for a moment and thought back to the past few months. It had come to her attention just then, that when she showed up there at Mrs. Lovett's all those months ago, in a fever and a fit, it had been three days since she'd last bled. Since then, she couldn't remember ever having to deal with such a lady problem. It had been the last thing on her mind, in all truthfulness. Why should she think on that, when she had been an accomplice in a murder game, and was now trying to make a living for herself and her regressing homicidal barber?

But times were calm now as August came to a close and as Ana stood there infront of that mirror with her slip pulled taught against her body and her protuding belly telling the telltale signs of a baby bump, Ana suddenly felt the urge to let out a scream. Instead she lifted her head with wide green eyes and looked to Mr. Todd, who still sat cross-legged on the bed and watched her warily. She wasn't sure what to say, as it was clear he hadn't caught on yet. Probably wouldn't, if she didn't tell him. Write it on her forehead and he wouldn't understand. Daft man needed a whole walk-through for the simpliest of things. Such as,

"Mr. Todd, I'm... pregnant."

There was a silence in the air that followed that statement, and Ana looked down at her stomach, her hands coming to rest on it. It felt weird to acknowledge it out loud.

"...Wot?"

Ana turned away from the mirror to look at him, her hands on her hips. She looked right down at her belly. Mr. Todd stood almost instantly and was over to her in a matter of seconds, his long legs murdering the distance between them brutally with three swift steps. His hand came to rest on her stomach, his fingers stretched. She looked up at him, completely unsure what to think. Part of her, the part that still yearned for that odd, modern London that she had once so spitefully called home, was scared at the thought. To be... pregnant- Ana inwardly cringed at the word -would be pretty much the end of her life from as she knew it. At her age, in that time? It was something smart girls, charmingly intellegent girls- both of with Ana found she was not every time she goaded Mr. Todd into arguing with her -shied away from until they were much older. Another part of her, the part that reveled in this new- this old -London and the time and the period and the class, was slightly in awe at the little bump that was now her belly. Who would have thunk it that a man such as Sweeney Todd was able to create- for it certainly couldn't have happened with him -such a beautiful cataclysm. She kept that metaphor to herself, however.

Mr. Todd was looking down at her belly, his brows furrowed deep into his forehead, his eyes dark. Ana wished she could read his thoughts, because his hand slid over her stomach in an almost tender motion. Her eyes softened as he looked from her stomach to her face. Under the black depths of his eyes she could see an unsure expression and despite herself she could feel a smile beginning to form on her lips. It was a smile that streched her lips and exposed her teeth and hurt her cheeks with the force that was her smile.

"Mr. Todd," she said softly, feeling her green eyes sparkling and alight with some emotion that she couldn't quite pinpoint- but it was causing her to smile so wide. "I'm pregnant."

The barber raised his free hand, curled fingers brushing along her jaw. His expression turned brooding, almost curious. Tilting his head, he demanded, "Say it again."

Ana's smile faltered and her brows slammed together. "What?" she asked, her words just a breath from her lips. Mr. Todd dropped the hand that brushed her jaw to her belly.

"Say it again," he demanded, his voice rough, but his hands soft on her stomach. Ana's smile returned.

"I'm pregnant," she whispered.

"Again."

"I'm pregnant!" 

"Again!"

"A baby! A small little pink, pukey, stinky, smelling, pooping bundle of baby! I'm pregnant!" Ana found her arms wrapping around Mr. Todd's shoulders, and his hands grabbed her hips, pulling her off her tip toes so that his lips could capture hers. He spun them around and soon they were tumbling on the bed, Ana's laughter warm and filling the room, Todd's growls soft in her ear. Warmth spread from all over her body as he heaved himself over her with one elbow, his hand snaking down her body and pressing firmly, but gently, against her stomach. Their eyes locked for a moment, and Ana felt her smile warm her face as she pulled his face down, her hands cupping his cheeks, but she didn't kiss him. Their noses just brushed and she closed her eyes.

A thought crossed her mind as his lips brushed her forehead. Johanna, Johanna, young beautiful Johanna. Would her baby turn out just as she? It was, perhaps, her luck that his other daughter was not on his mind, for Ana knew that Mr. Todd would not be laying with her as he was if it clicked in his head that a new child would replace the one he once had. So, Ana made very sure that he thought of nothing, dragging his lips down to hers and twisting them so that she was hovering of him, his back pressed into the matress.

"A child," she heard Mr. Todd whisper in her ear. She shivered as his hands worked her out of her slip, her own unbuttoning his night shirt. "A baby," he breathed across her bare throat. She was under him again and her nails clawed at his back when his hips finally settled between her own. "My child," he said as he grabbed her by the hips and pulled her tighter to him, her back bent in a perfect arch. He elicted warm, soft sounds from her vocals as their bodies twisted together in a warm embrace, her fingers twisting into the blankets and her own wild, tangled hair. The man pressed his cheek against hers, hovering over her after they both lay finished and panting, and ghosted his breath into her ear. Ana's arms wrapped around and pulled him down. He grunted, pulling his arms around her waist and tugging her against him, the blankets thrown off their bodies.

His hand was on her belly again, as if he didn't want to take it off. Ana looked up at his face, but his brows were drawn together and he was looking at her stomach. She felt her own expression fall and she covered his hand with her own. "What is it?" she asked.

"I'm already a father," he said blankly. Ana sighed. She knew it would come to that eventually.

"And now she's gone off and probably well on her way to having a baby of her own," she said softly. "Antony loves her. He'll take fair care of her. They'll be happy." She nuzzled into his shoulder, curling closer to her Mr. Todd. "Are you unhappy?"

The man clenched his jaw, she could feel it tense against the top of her head. "I don't know," he said, his voice pained. Ana moved away, just enough to sit up and look down at him. Her hair fell around her shoulders like a curtain.

"I never thought about being a mother," she told him truthfully. "Back home, women didn't get pregnant until they were much older." She leaned back against the wall at the head of the bed, resting her hands on her belly. "So I never thought about it. I don't know how to feel about it, yet. But, I guess if you're not unhappy, I won't be unhappy either."

The man beside her snort. "And since when has my well being affected your own personal happiness?"

Ana shrugged. "It hasn't," she said. "But... a baby," she laughed. "A baby! It changes people, wouldn't you say?"

"Anything you say," the man murmured. "Come here."

Ana shimmied back down to his side and let him put his arm around her shoulders, tugging her closer. "So, Mr. T, are you alright being a Daddy again?"

"Don't call me that," he murmured.

"What, Mr. T or Daddy?"

He growled and pulled her tight in one hand, the other grabbing the blankets and pulling them up over their heads. Neither got much sleep that night.


	4. Chapter 4

**title** Scream

**author** pinkeop

**summary** From now on when I think of you, I scream. -Companion Fic to Girl Anachronism- -AU-

**authors note **Hey all, how's it crack-a-lacken, home skillets? Pretty good? Good! Cos I got another chapter here for you! I had way too much fun writing this chapter. You'll see why. -snickegiggle- I'm trying to make my chapters longer- for the longest time, "Girl Anachronism" was the longest Sweeney Todd fiction here on FF with 50,000+ words, but now it's second to "The History of the World", which I have read and is a wonderful fic that you should ALL go read RIGHT now. -shameless plug-

Alright, here we go!

And A-N-D-A-E-R-E, yes I do have the booklet wiv the pretty pictures and the lyrics and the deliciousness that is Sweeney Todd. ;D Oh, and I enjoy your long reviews.

And everyone else! I love when you review! I know I don't reply to reviews like other authors, but I just don't have the time to answer to your each and individual reviews. I'd love to but, just know that You all have my love and affection and gratitude!

Thank you so much!

Love!

Pink Elephants on Parade

p.s; I have no freaking CLUE about European currency, much less wot they use way back in 1846, so don't comment. I avoid it as much as possible, but I just couldn't for this chapter. I don't care if it's wrong. Don't comment. Don't. do it. I'll kill you dead.

Word.

**chapter four**

_Are you strong enough?_

_do you feel my touch?_

_you are the comfort in my eyes_

_Moving through the lust,_

_feeling dangerous,_

_I want to open the door to your life_

_The steps we take on the way to free our minds_

_And lives have changed by the way we free our minds_

_**And being with you was the moment I opened my eyes**_

The sun was out and the day was warm, a cool breeze keeping the last of the summer heat at bay. From the moment Ana awoke- alone in her room and curled around a blanket instead of her Mr. Todd -she'd felt an odd giddy excitement filling her, flowing through her entire body, spreading from her finger tips to her toes. Everything seemed brighter, sunnier. She threw open the windows in her room, catching the cool breezes on the hot, August day just as summer was coming to a close. Her hair tangled in the soft wind as she leaned out the window, taking a deep breath and letting it out with a small laugh. She felt alive- more alive than she had in a long while. She wasn't sure what it was that made her feel that way. If she had to guess, it would be the combination of the cool breeze, the warm sun, and the blue sky, all of it making London seem brighter and not as dark as it had when she'd first showed up on Nellie's doorstep, in a fever and fit in the rain in the cold alley on Fleet Street.

Those thoughts had been getting better, too. She could hardly recall the face of the woman she'd once remembered to be her mother. She could remember a cruel smile and a flash of bright red hair. It almost scared her to forget what she could remember being so enthusiastic about sharing with Nellie, those months ago. But she had a life, now. And, as odd as the thought was to her, a business, and on that didn't require all the killing. And she had Mr. Todd, though she wasn't sure exactly how that twisted relationship worked. She had dreams some nights. Dreams about a nameless, faceless woman- some times she thought it was her mother, but for all she knew her mother was dead. For all she knew, she was crazy.

But that didn't matter, not now, not at the moment. She had a... a child, now! A baby! Out of wedlock(1) perhaps and with a man who used to murder to make a living... but those little details could be ironed out once Ana came down from her high.

The girl took another deep breath before moving back inside her room, moving to the closet. She didn't bother putting on a corset, for she knew her stomach would just get sick. But instead, she simply fished out a warm, cream colored dress, pulling and lacing it over her. The bulge in her belly was not yet visible, or at least not at all noticable. But she knew the child was there and she rubbed her hands over her stomach, feeling the taught bump.

"What a surprise you are!" said Ana to her belly, smoothing her dress over her midsection. "But not unpleasent." She laughed at herself, pulling her hair out of ther eyes and over her shoulder. Perhaps it was silly, talking to the child growing still in her stomach but it made her feel oddly calm. Oddly collected. Everything seemed less like a dream. More real. Turning toward the door, Ana placed a hand on her stomach, rubbing her tummy.

"Haven't heart Mr. Todd pacing this morning," the young baker murmured, glancing at her stomach as she swept through the bright palor. "He does that a lot, your father." It felt weird referring to the demon barber as a father. She was biting back a laugh as she entered the shop, ready and energetic to open for the day.

"Sometimes he comes down here, though," said Ana to her belly as she propped open the front door. "More so often than not. He's wonderful company. I guess, when you getting him talking- if you getting him talking. He doesn't like me to talk too much, but I do it anyway. He's better than a few months ago, at least!" She flit over to the court door and pulled it open. She suddenly caught sight of a very familiar figure- a familiar dark-haired, pale skinned, tall familiar figure that was harassing a young boy in ragged clothes and dark messy hair. He stood at the edge of the street, holding the boy by the scruff of the neck, in the other hand a small pile of wrinkled papers. Ana groaned.

"Hey!" she called. When she got no reaction, the girl started to the edge of the court where the disturbance was taking place. A few feet away Mr. Todd caught sight of her and shoved the papers in the young boy's hands, as well as a few coins. The boy took off running, dropping a few papers that fluttered to the ground. Ana's hands came to rest on her hips as she peered up at him.

"What're you doing, Mr. Todd?" she asked warily. The man looked down at her with a curled back lip. She raised a single brow at him. "Well? I don't want you harassing anybody right out front here! What the hell was that about?"

Mr. Todd sneered down at her. "Nothing," he said.

"Don't you tell me nothing," she snapped, kneeling down to grab one of the papers that fluttered to the ground when the boy had run off. It was a hand-written flyer of sorts on dingy, crinkled paper. It read,

_HELP WANTED_

_BAKERS ASSISTANT_

_MRS. LOVETT'S MEAT PIE SHOPPE on FLEET STREET_

_Help will be needed all days but Sunday. Assistants will be paid six pence a week and given to keep all tips they recieve._

Ana looked up at the barber, who looked extremely uncomfortable to be standing there. She didn't understand the flyer- she'd been getting along just fine without any help. And, since when did Mr. Todd decide she needed help? She didn't need anyone to work along side her- she had her own little rhythm, and to take the time to teach someone else the complicated steps she'd developed? It was just not worth her time. Ana gave him an expecting look. He glanced at her and then away.

"What is this?" asked Ana hotly. "I don't remember deciding to hire help for myself."

"That's because you didn't," the man responded, turning and starting back towards the shops. "I did."

"And what makes you think I want help?" Ana questioned, stomping up the stairs to his shop after him. He left the door open behind him, so she briskly followed him inside, deciding that she was allowed to talk at him. "Mr. T, you listening to me?"

The barber whirled to look at her. With a clenched jaw, he ground out, "Of course, Ana."

"No you're not," she accused. "What is this all about?" she waved the flyer at him. Mr. Todd grunted and turned away from her, moving to the bay window. Ana growled.

"I"ll turn away whoever comes looking for a job," she threatened. The man turned- finally, she had his attention. "I'm perfectly fine, I don't need any help- so I'm turning away anyone who ends up here."

"No, you're not," said Mr. Todd bluntly. Ana pursed her lips.

"What's gotten into you?" she asked. Mr. Todd furrowed his brow. Ana took a few steps towards him. "Answer me!"

"You!" Mr. Todd snarled, grabbing her by the shoulders. Ana bit back a gasp. "You, Ana! You've gotten into me." He looked pained for a moment, then completely determined as his hands tightened around her shoulders. "And it annoys and irritates me every waking second I 'ave to listen to your voice! You're a chaos on feet an' you never brush your hair an' you talk too much and ne'er shut up. You're always falling down and-" he paused, gritting his teeth. "-an' you going up and down those bake'ouse steps is a disaster waiting to happen, especially with a belly the size of a 'ouse. That's wot's gotten into me and that's why you're hiring 'elp."

Ana and Mr. Todd were both quiet for the longest time, the barber starring down with irritated indifference, Ana looking up with wide, green eyes. She let out a long, cool breath. Finally, a smug little smirk appeared on her lips.

"Mr. T," she said with a grin. "Are you _worried_ about me?"

The man sneered.

"You are!" she gasped with a laugh. "Mr. Todd, you're worried about me and your baby!"

"No I'm not, you are, shut up," he practically stammered, letting go of her shoulders and turning back to the window. Ana laughed warmly.

"Mr. T! You care about me!" She placed a hand on her belly. "You care about me and your baby. You _care_, Mr. Todd, you _do_!" The barber groaned.

"Oh, go open your shop! Go, get out, leave me. You never shut your mouth," he pushed her gently by the shoulders out of the shop. Ana's laughter was warm in the summer air. She grinned back at him as she flit down the steps. "Watch where you're walking!" He called after her, snarling.

"Oh, Mr. Todd, you care!" She chimed

"Shut up!" The door slammed, the bell jingling hard above it.

Ana had gone down the bakehouse to bring up a warm batch of paies- really, she'd only been down there two minutes. But when she returned up to the upper level of the shop, there were already a dozen customers waiting to be served, a few sitting, some standing and waiting to take their pie on the go for their lunch later. Ana sighed. Maybe Mr. T was right in sending out those flyers for hired help.

She went right to work, however, moving with determined efficency, getting out the pies and slipping the pennies into her busom. She made chit-chat with the customers as she poured them ale and served them pies, even as they left having more to serve. It was to her relief that not a single one commented on her stomach, meaning that she wasn't showing yet, at least not to anyone but herself and Mr. T. Who, speaking of which, was rather sour with her, as he said nothing to her when he brought him up his breakfast.

He'd get over it.

When she returned back to the shop, it was empty except for a few content customers already eating their pies and a young man sitting there in the shop. He looked about her age, with ragged clothes and a dirty face. His expression was delightfully hopeful and Ana smiled when he saw her enter through the court door. His hair was a messy black, flopped over his face in a wild disarray, but she could see intense, determined blue eyes under thick brows.

"Morning, love," she said to the boy as she reached to grab a plat and a pie off the counter. "Can I get you a nice veal pie?"

"Thank yeh, m'am," the boy said, soft spoken and kind. Ana smiled as she set the plate down infront of him, taking the three pennies he dropped in her hand. She tucked them away out of sight and placed her hands on her hips. He was fishing in his jacket for something, and pulled out of an inside pocket, one of the flyers Mr. Todd had bullied a youth into putting up across the streets. She sighed, rolling her eyes heavenwards.

"I was wonderin', m'am," the boy said, holding out the flyer to her. "If yeh 'ad found anyone to 'elp you, yet." Ana snatched the flyer from his hands and glared down at it. He seemed taken aback from her reaction. She looked down at him where he sat and gave a hefty sigh.

"Listen," she said quietly. "I didn't make them papers. My barber, upstairs, Mr. Todd? He thinks I need some help around the shop. Thinks I'm over exerting myself. I really don't need any help here, but how about another pie, on me, for your troubles of coming all the way down here?"

"Oh, it was no trouble, m'am!" the boy said quickly, looking sheepishly. "But I'm a 'ard worker, an' I could use the six pence a week. I learn quick, m'am, an' I could 'elp you wiv anythin' you need."

Ana groaned and handed the boy back the flyer. "What's your name?" asked Ana.

He looked hopeful. "Malachai(2), m'am!"

"How old are you?" she asked next, busying herself with wiping down the counter as she did so.

"Well, I'm only 16 and a half, m'am..." he asked slowly. Ana snorted.

"Then there will be no calling me m'am, got it?" she commanded. Her eighteenth birthday was just around the corner at the beginning of September and she wouldn't be called "M'am" by a boy not much younger than she was. "You'll call me Ana, and I'll call you Malachai and as long as you don't get in Mr. Todd's way I'm sure that you'll get on just fine here."

Malachai looked completely elated, jumping up and grabbing her hand in his own, shaking it rather vigerously. "Thank yeh, m'a-- Ana," he corrected quickly with a sheepish grin. "Thank yeh, Miss Ana. Yeh are a good christian indeed, Miss Ana."

"Sure, sure," she said, taking her hand back. When he stood, the rough looking boy was a good foot and a head taller than she was. Then again, she'd always been extremely short. Looking up and down with wide eyes, she grabbed him by the elbow. "Why don't you and I go up and see Mr. Todd for a tick, eh? He'll be happy to know I found myself an assitant, that's for sure."

"Yes, m'am!" Malachai chirped. Nice and obediant- but that m'am thing was going to have to stop.

"Yes, well... come on, then." Leading him by the elbow, Ana dragged the young man up the steps to the barber shop, where the door was once more closed, as Mr. Todd had slammed it on her behind as she skipped out earlier after delivering his breakfast. In a right mood, her Mr. T was. In a right mood indeed.

When she opened the door, the man turn to look with feigned curiosity at who was entering his shop. When he saw it was Ana, his face slipped into a scowl and an ever deeper one when he caught she'd brought company. Male company, nonetheless! Ana smirked and pulled Malachai towards Mr. Todd, until they were both standing facing each other, the former looking extremely intimidated by the silent, brooding man.

"Mr. T," Ana said smoothly. "This is the young man who answered your stupid little flyers. He's come to help me in the shop down stairs."

"Sir," the boy murmured. Ana smirked.

"Malachai, this is Mr. Sweeney Todd."

Mr. Todd did nothing but grunt. Ana rolled her eyes and pat the boy on the back.

"Well now that we're all right pals, why don't you go on home, Malachai, and come back around seven. That's when the dinner rush usually starts, and I'll put you to work." She let go of his elbow, and he gave a hefty little bow before backing away, keeping his eyes down.

"Pleasure to meet yeh both- an' thank yeh m'am, thank yeh. I won' disappoint, m'am." With that, he took off down the steps, leaving Ana and her barber alone in silence for a few minutes before the man grunted and starting pacing.

"I don't like 'im." he grunted.

"Why?" Ana snapped. "You're the one who wanted me to get some help, now I have, and you're not happy. You're impossible."

"Yeh're impossible," he snarled back. "I was expecting something with long hair and breasts. Yeh know- a woman."

Ana felt her cheeks redden as she plopped down in his barber chair- it had been unrigged, she'd made sure of that. So no matter how irritated he got with her, he wouldn't send her flying back into the bakehouse to her doom. It was amusing watching him try some days, though, when she'd sit smugly on his chair and argue with him, and he would stamp on the peddle and nothing would happen save for the chair wriggling a little bit. She glared up at him from the chair now, watching him pace infront of the window.

"And what's the difference? A boy'll be able to help me more- work harder." She nodded. Besides, Malachai was sweet, and nice, and soft spoken and more obediant than she'd ever get a girl to be, she knew. "He's a good boy."

"I don't like 'im." Was all she got from the tempermental barber.

"Well, it's not your choice, now is it? So you can just bite me," she snapped.

"S'that a challenge?" He questioned, raising a brow at her, pausing in his pacing to shoot her the most irritating grin in the world, his eyes dark, not alight with joy, but with a promise that she knew she wouldn't escape.

Ana forced her face to be deadpan. Raising a hand, she pointed one single finger at him. "You," she said slowly. "Are twisted."

"An' you ne'er shut up," he said lackidasically.

"What's that have to do with anything?" she asked hotly.

"Everythin'! Shut up! Get out! Leave! You talk too much." He waved a hand towards the door. Ana groaned and stood, shaking her head.

"You're insane!" she told him as she started towards the door. "God forbid our child has your lunacy!"

"It'll probably get yours, woman!" Mr. Todd snapped back. Ana wheeled around to turn to look at him, her hands placed firmly on her hips.

"Shut up and shave something," she goaded before skipping out of the shop. She could hear him stomping after her, and she laughed as she half stumbled on the stairs, catching herself on the rail.

"Be. Careful!" she heard the barber shout after her in an exasperated voice. To spite him, she turned her head and blew a raspberry back up at his form leaning over the rail. The slamming barber shop door was the only thing she got for a reply.

(1) Getting married out of wedlock was actually a very big deal back in these days, and some women were locked away in insane asylums for it. Since Ana is still more so stuck in her own-time-frame-of-mind, this isn't a very big deal to her, but will become an increasingly higher risk as her pregnancy increases and becomes more apparant to those around her.

(2) Malachai (mal-ah-ch-aye) is a reference to Stephen King's short story _Children of the Corn_, in which Malachai was a tall, violent teen and a boy preacher, Issac's, right hand man in killing all adults in the fictional town of Gaitlin, Nebraska and brainwashing all the town's children into a psuedo-christian cult.


	5. Chapter 5

**title** Scream

**author** pinkeop

**summary** From now on when I think of you, I scream. -Companion Fic to Girl Anachronism- -AU-

**authors note **Well, here you go! Another chapter! This one practically wrote itself, I had so much muse! I hope you all like it- it's a long one! Btw, the lyrics at the beginning of every chapter? They usually have something to do with the story- a story within a story, if you will.

and here andaere, a nice long chapter for a nice not-long-no-white-space review.

And you! Yes, you! Sitting at your computer with nothing to do after you read this! Review! I love it, it keeps me motivated to write more! So review!

Yea-yuh.

Love!

Pink Elephants on Parade

**chapter five**

_'Cause I like to be gone most of the time_

_And you like to be home most of the time_

_If I stay in one place I lose my mind_

_I'm a pretty impossible lady to be with_

_he gave me a push and started singing_

_and i sang along while i was swinging_

_**the sound of our voices made us forget everything**_

_**that have ever hurt our feelings**_

Malachai was a real dream! He was a quick learner and a hard worker, just as he had said, and did everything Ana instructed him to do without falter or hesitation. He talked as much as she did, as well, turns out and that was good for her because now that Mr. Todd was back to sulking in his shop until he was done being sour with her, she hadn't anyone to talk to and Malachai was the perfect replacement. During the first night at dinner rush, they managed to hold a conversation for the entire time exchanging words as they passed each other through the court, or went down to bring the pies up from the bakehouse, even if Ana knew her Mr. Todd would be quite upset with her if he knew she was doing that job anyway.

They talked of all things, she and Malachai. In the first week he'd been there, she learned that he lived with his mother down on Fore-street(1) and he had six sisters and he was the only boy. They weren't well off, so he went to find a job and help support him while his sisters looked for young, rich men to marry away to. She learned that he hadn't had a father since he was a baby, as his father had been taken away on charges his mother would never reveal to him. At this time, Ana subconciously placed a hand on her round little belly and glanced miserably at the ceiling.

At the end of the week, on a warm Sunday morning, Malachai stopped by and Ana gave him his six pence. But, that was not at all his purpose for stopping by and he called Ana back just as she was about to turn back into the shop and make some breakfast for her and Mr. T, so he would stop being upset with her. "Miss Ana!" the young boy crowed. "I'm sure you have work to do today, even if shop isn't open, but I was wondering... well, if you're not to busy, if you'd like to go for a walk with me? It's such a nice day out, it'd be a shame to spend it inside."

Ana set one hand on her hip, the other leaning her up against the railing at the bottom of the stairs. She clucked her tongue and glanced up the stairs, where Mr. Todd had left his shop door open.

"I don't know, Malachai..." she said slowly.

"Oh, come on!" the boy begged. "Yeh've worked really 'ard all week- yeh deserve a break, m'am!"

She looked back to Malachai and shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I don't see why not," she said with a soft smile. "It is a nice day out..."

"We could go for a walk in the park!" Malachai said cherrily, following her into the shop as she untied her apron and slung it over the counter. He grabbed her by the elbow, hauling her enthusiastically out of the shop, waiting impatiently as she locked the court and front doors. She tucked away the key into her bodice and turned to look at him, hands on her hips.

"Alright," she said warmly. "Lead the way."

A day out with Malacai, Ana discovered, was exactly what she needed. The two of them walked through the streets of London as if it were the brightest place in the world, soaking up the last of the summer sun.

The two stopped in a confection shop on their walk and bought a small bag of toffee, which they shared on their way. Malachai was even gentlemanly enough to hold the bag for her as they strolled past Bell Yard(2). And although Ana shot him a disapproving look laced with amusement, the boy snagged a pretty yellow flower for her from a pot on someone's stoop and let him tuck it behind her ear.

They walked all the way to Hyde Park, talking of anything that popped into their heads, laughing and joking the entire way. They sat under the shade of a tree at the park, looking like young lovers what with the way they threw ripped up peices of grass at each other, raced from the tree to the path then back again, and laid on their backs, making shapes out of the clouds. It felt good to Ana to have another friend besides Mr. Todd. It felt good to talk about normal things for once. It even felt good to forget the life growing inside of her belly. It felt good to forget that Mr. Todd was sour with her, and it felt good to forget that she was turning 18 in just a few days. Three, to be exact. September 4th. It felt good to lay there side by side with Malacai and be more than just employee and boss. He didn't call her M'am while they were making chains and necklaces and bracelets out of flowers and grass. He didn't glance away when she looked at him, but instead met her eyes and actually listened to what she had to say.

It felt good.

As the two of them were sitting there, both sure that it would be time to start heading back to Fleet Street, and for Malacai all the way back to Fore-Street, the boy asked an odd question that at first would not make much sense to Ana, but would later cause her a world of trouble.

"Yeh're fond of possesive pronouns, ain't yeh?" he asked off handedly. Ana looked up from her fingers, twisting delicately around a chain of flowers that she'd made for Mr. Todd, her own wrists adoring three or four flower-bracelets each. She rosed her brows, bading him silently to go on. "Well, it's just that whenever yeh talk about Mr. Sweeney Todd, yeh reffer to 'im as _yehr_ barber. _Yehr_ Mr. Todd." He quirked a brow at her. "'E seems a bit old to be yehrs."

Ana snorted and shrugged her shoulders. She could tell her cheeks were colored, as she felt them get uncomfortably hot. It was true- even in her thoughts, Mr. Todd was her's, but she wasn't aware that she'd started to say it outloud. Avoiding his gaze, Ana looked down at her lap. Malachai keep his gaze on her even as she avoided answering him right away.

"Ah... well, Mr. Todd has done a lot for me, Malachai. He saved my life. If it weren't for him I would be dead and you and I wouldn't be having this conversation right now." She glanced at him, biting her lip. Malachai tilted his head, his expression falling to something softer, not as accusing. "I was in a fit and a fever when he found me. I can't hardly remember what happened before I showed up on his door step. His land lady found me in the rain and if he hadn't brought me inside--"

" 'Is land lady?" Malachai inturrupted. "Wait a minute, I thought _you _were 'is landlady? 'Es living below _yehr_ shop, ain't 'e?"

Ana felt her face pale and she snorted. "Nellie Lovett left her shop to me, you see. I was like a daughter to her... And, well she retired a few months ago... Went to live by the sea--"

"Was she much older than Mr. Sweeney Todd?" Malachai asked. Ana's brows knit together in the middle of her forehead. All his questions made no sense to her.

"Not by much, I don't believe. Mr. Todd is only... Oh, thirty six, seven. My Nellie wasn't much older." replied Ana.

"Again wiv yeh possesive pronouns," the boy beside her grumbled. "Why'd she retire so early, then?"

She sighed, giving him a good glare. "You gonna let me finish?"

He gave her a soft smile. Ana smirked back and fell to lay on her back. Malachai leaned back on his arms, looking down at her attentively. "Nellie Lovett retired...?" he urged.

"We had this boy- he was a bit younger than yourself, eleven, maybe. His name was Toby. He was a real lad. She took him with her like her own, like her son. They're living down by the English channel, now." She had to force herself to stop for a moment. That wasn't true, was it? No, it wasn't, but that's what this boy needed to believe. She would be able to sort the truth out for herself later. Now, it was her turn to lie for Mr. Todd. Again. "Down by the sea- she always talked about going there. So nice that she's there, now... Like she always wanted." She sighed.

"That suit your curiosity?" she questioned bluntly.

"No," Malachai said but he was already standing to his feet. "But I guess it'll do. Come on, I'll walk yeh back home."

"That's not nessicary- I think I can find my way back..." Ana didn't feel to sure and she must not have looked it, because Malachai snorted a laugh and grabbed her by the elbow, pulling her back to the street.

"Come on," he said. They started walking and it was easy for Ana again to fall into the easy conversation. She had been worried at first that things would be a little more forced, but Malachai was all bubbles and smiles as they rounded the corner from Bell Yard to Fleet Street at midday when the sun was beating down uncomfortably on them. He walked her all the way to the court door and was still talking as she fished the key out of her busom.

"Thank you, Malachai," she said turning to look at him, reaching to grab his hand. "I don't know anyone in London except for Mr. Todd. I think some good deity sent you for me. It feels nice to have an actual friend."

"Of course, m'am," he said gently, squeezing her hand. "Anything, m'am. I'll see you tomorrow then?"

Ana raised one hand and pat him light on the cheek. "Get on home, love," she said. With that, Malachai was off. She turned back towards the court door, but something caught the corner of her eye and she looked up the steps that lead to Sweeney Todd's shop- the devil himself stood there at the top of the stairs, a sneer on his face and his black hair a mess, the white streak frazzled all over the place. His figure at first gave Ana a fright, but she placed her hands on her heart and peered up at him.

"Afternoon, Mr. Todd," she voiced.

"Where 'ave you been _all_ morning?" he called down. Ana opened her mouth to answer, but the man sneered. "Shut up. Come here." When she didn't move and instead placed one hand on her hip, cocking them in a very disobediant manner, he snarled. "If you make me come down there, Ana, you will _not_ be pleased. Come. Here. Now."

Only when he actually started down the stairs did Ana jump and begin up them in a very slow ascend. Arms crossed, he waited until she was one step below him to place his hand on her back of her neck, gently but firmly, and menuver her in side the shop. She probably should have been afraid- but her stomach just felt sick and queesy. And annoyed- she felt very annoyed. It was like he _knew_ he was intimidating and he thought that he still scared her. He didn't scare her. What scared her is what he was capable of. So, perhaps, in a way he terrfied her to the bone.

"What's your problem?" she snapped, throwing his hands off her and turning swiftly to glare at him. Mr. Todd's eyes seemed darker now, more menicing. Ana's breath caught in her throat as she swiftly moved around him, putting distance between her and the tempermental barber. She sat in his chair as per usual and propped her feet up on the foot rest. The man did not look calmed by the distance- in fact, he looked enraged. He stalked closer, fists curled tight. She noticed then he wasn't wearing his vest, and his neck tie hung loose around his throat.

"Where 'ave you been?" he asked again, forcing his voice down a notch or two. Ana's face softened at his effort.

"Malachai took me on a walk," she said softly. "We stopped by the candy shop and walked to Hyde Park." She paused and smiled, looking down to her left hand- that still held the flower chain she'd made for Mr. Todd. The flowers were slightly squished, but other than that had yet to wilt. "I made this for you," she teased, holding out the small flower bracelet to him. The barber curled back his lip and reached out one large hand to pluck it out of her palm. He looked so confused and it caused Ana to laugh.

"It's Sunday, Mr. T. And such a nice day out, when he asked me to go for a walk, I couldn't say no." She twiddled with the flower bracelets she had over her own wrists, smiling warmly. "I thought to ask you to come along, but I didn't know if you wanted to spend the morning with a couple of kids." Her mouth hung on the last word, his eyes flicking up to his carefully. What Malachai had said earlier, about Mr. Todd being too old for her, quickly came back and she wondered if the man thought the same. Surely, they were twisted, this relationship they had together, this friendship. Surely he saw it, too?

"I told yeh, I don't like 'im," Mr. Todd grumbled poutily, staring down at the flower chain in his big palms. Ana let out a sigh.

"And _I _told _you_ that it didn't matter. He's staying. I like Malachai. He's smart, and funny, and it's nice to have an actual friend here besides you, Mr. Todd, because honestly some days you're not much company." His eyes flickered sharply towards her. "He's staying around for a while, Mr. T, until he doesn't wanna be here anymore."

"An' why would 'e not?" the barber grunted, pacing towards the window slowly, leisurely. "Wiv an' employer like you, why wouldn't 'e want to stay?"

"What's that?" Ana asked, frowning. Mr. Todd laid the flowers on the window sill and turned towards her. He looked uncomfortable.

"'E may be very nice. But, I don' want yeh to see 'im again. Not alone."

"What?" Ana snapped, rolling her eyes heavenwards, throwing her hands in the air. "You're so stubborn! You can dictate who I see and don't see, but you won't admit to caring? Or, more so it sounds like, _jealousy_? Are you_ jealous_ of him, Mr. Todd?"

The man clenched his jaw and raised his chin. She stood to her feet and took two steps towards him. "Sweeney Todd, you're _jealous_!"

It all happened very quickly, then. As she was looking up at him, she knew she'd goaded him too far. Teased him, mocked him one too many times in one afternoon. Something about Malacai seriously bothered her barber, and yet she played on that and forced it into his face her liking for the younger boy. His eyes flashed and darkened and he looked no different than a few months ago, when all he did was kill and destroy. It was stupid of her to think that just because now he seemed more gentle that it meant he really was. The bruising grip of his hand on her arm swinging her around and pressing the small of her back into the window sill surprised her more than it should and she let out a yelp. What really did surprise her, however, was the feel of cool metal pressing against her collar bone. It stung, even if it didn't hurt. But the cool metal warmed heatedly against her skin and it felt like it burnt her.

He'd pulled a razor on her.

"Sweeney Todd doesn't feel jealousy," the man snarled, his lip pulled back in disgust as he surveyed her, his eyes alight with some joy she hadn't seen in a while. Her hands reached back to level herself against the sill. His breath smelt like cinnamon for some deranged reason, and that's all she could focus on for a half a second. "Or _care_. Or _love_. Or _devotion_."

"Get off me," she whispered. The only response she got was the feel of the cool metal pressing into the exposed skin of her collar bone. "Mr. Todd, get _off_ me!" She made to move around him, as if he didn't intimidate her, but the razor was held aloft, as if he were going to use it. It came towards her and without thinking, Ana raised a hand and made a grab for the razor. Of course, not thinking, she grabbed the very wrong end and the razor cut neatly into her palm as she gripped it with all her might. She made to pull it out of his hands, but already her blood made it slippery, and she made a deep, clean slice.

Tears of pain welled in her eyes as she jerked her hand away, holding it daintly away from her body. The gash was already gushed with blood and she couldn't see how deep it was. She forced herself to look at him. He was holding his razor craftily, but his eyes were wide with surprise at what had just happened. He opened his mouth to speak, but Ana quickly cut him off, shoving him away with her good hand.

"Don't," she hissed. "Don't speak. Don't touch me." She shook her hurt hand and hissed as it stung and a few droplets of blood fell to the floor, staining the wood. Her eyes never left him as she began inching her way around the chair. She needed to tend to this or she was going to bleed herself to death. "I swear to god, Sweeney Todd..." she snarled, stumbling towards the door. She could hear his foot steps behind her. At the door, she whirled and pointed a finger at him. He was two steps away, looking lost.

"You heard me," she threatened. Her eyes looked him up and down, hoping she conveyed enough disgust on her face. She almost wanted to forgive him, what with the lost, almost grief filled look in his eyes. But she could remember, clearly his words, _Sweeney Todd doesn't feel jealousy. Or care. Or love. Or devotion_. She supposed she shouldn't have been too surprised. She _knew_ he didn't love her, and it wasn't as if she was ready to declare her own undying love for him. But she at least _cared_. She at least took care of him, fed him, kept him company on quiet, cold nights.

Sometimes she tricked herself into thinking that she brightened his day a little.

Ana couldn't remember when Sweeney Todd's offhanded, "I don't care" behaviour ever affected her before. But now she felt humliated and angry and foolish for thinking that the barber would change just because they were presented with a second chance. Not even- they stole the second chance, ripped it from greedy fingers and took it for their own. How foolish she was. A naive child.

Well, fine. If he wanted to play those games, she was the master. Feeling slightly dizzy from all the blood, she clamped her palm against the large skirts of her dress- ignoring the way it pooled and stained the warm fabric -and rammed her back into the door trying to back out of the shop.

"Don't come near me," she hissed as she stepped over the threashold. He stood there, still, his gaze now on the ground. She could remember that look- it was the same look he had when he realized the Judge had slipped through his fingers. Her stomach churned, her mind trying to forget way back when. Down the stairs she flew, throwing open the court door and slamming it with all her might. Above her shop she could hear quick, jerking, sliding foot falls, Mr. Todd already pacing away his latest wrong.

Hissing, Ana retreated into the wash room to clean and dress her gash. Using her teeth and left hand, she tied a rag neatly around her palm, watching as the blood was soaked into the fabric. Sighing, the young baker retreated back into the shop. On the table was a forgotten bottle of gin. Anything to settle her stomach- she grabbed it and a glass and poured it in.

Once the glass touched her lips, she hesitated before drinking. With child, should she really be drinking? Upstair, Mr. Todd was having a temper tantrum, as something very hard was tossed against the wall, sliding to a thump on the floor. One hand on her belly, the other around the glass, she took a large, deep, swig of gin. With a father like that, the child didn't need to be brought here. What kind of parents would they be? Out of wedlock and with parents who didn't even love each other. A mother who would probably end up being no better than her own and a father who wielded razors like they were swords. The child would be dead within a month. Who were they to bring another life into this world? They had no right, she reasoned. No right. She was doing the child a favor, she reasoned as she took another drink. It would thank her if she killed it now. It didn't matter how much in the past week she found she wanted to be a mother- how terribly badly she wanted this baby. She had no right to have it. Tears welling in her eyes, she forgot the glass and drank straight from the bottle.

_I'm so sorry_, she thought as the alcohol burned on the way down. _Forgive me_.

The sound of foot steps storming down the stairs wasn't even enough to get her to stop what she was doing. Her eyes only snapped towards the court door when it flung open, a very disheveled looking Mr. Todd standing in her doorway. He assessed the situation and murdered the distance between them in three short steps, slamming a hand down on the table as he leaned over the booth at her.

"Goddamnit, Ana," he whispered. Ana clenched her jaw and the bottle of gin around the neck. There was a long pause before he blinked, eyes widening his slight surprise and he wheeled back, as if he was seeing her for the first time. "Wot are yeh doing?" he hissed.

Ana blinked up at him, glancing at the gin in her hands. "Wot the 'ell do yeh think yerh doing?" His big hand smoothly extracted her gin from her hand, and when she went to make a grab for it, he threw it across the room, the bottle smashing against the counter. "How long 'ave you been drinking down 'ere?" he demanded, slamming his band back on the table, leering over her.

"Two minutes," she snarled up at him, blinking away the tears that had already formed. She raised her hands and wiped her eyes.

"Wot the hell for?!" he nearly shouted. Ana shoved him by the shoulders, hissing as her hurt palm stung.

"Because I don't love you and you don't love anything, so what the _fuck_ are we doing having a child?!"

There was a long silence that followed, as Ana sat there, fuming, and Mr. Todd stood a few feet back, breathing just as heavily. The silence streched for ages. It was a silence, in which the two were both seeing each other for the first time. Slowly, Mr. Todd stepped back towards her and Ana couldn't find the energy to shrink away. She suddenly felt very tired but almost relieved. She hadn't the time to drown the baby with gin, and it was probably still growing snugly, unawares of the goings on outside her belly. Mr. Todd took her by the hands and lifted her smoothly from her seat. To her surprise, his arms engulfed her and held her tight against his body. Slowly, her own hands came to rest on his slender hips, and soon moved to wrap tight around his middle. And they stood there, in the middle of the shop, surrounded by litters of broken glass, holding one another. He didn't need to ask to be forgiven, though that was his initital reason for coming down to the shop, she was sure.

No matter how much she wanted to hate him, it was those fleeting moments that kept Ana attached to him. Strangely, utterly, attached.

(1) A reference to 'A String of Pearls - A Romance', the original story of Sweeney Todd.

(2) A second reference to 'A String of Pearls - A Romance', the original story of Sweeney Todd, where Mrs. Lovett's pie shop was originally located.


	6. Chapter 6

**title** Scream

**author** pinkeop

**summary** From now on when I think of you, I scream. -Companion Fic to Girl Anachronism- -AU-

**authors note **Hey everyone! How's it going? Good? Good. I hope you enjoy this chapter! Now, I've been reading this fic called Public Affairs and I know that in that fic spoiler Mrs. Lovett has to deal with the same problem Ana has to in this chapter, but I tried to make it different and original.

DisguisedxLies I get my inspiration from music, from my friends, from real life, television, and from books. I hope my inspiration continues to entertain you!

Anadaere Here's another one for ya!

Everyone else? Keep reviewing! It keeps me writing! I appreciate each and every one of you so much!

Love!

Pink Elephants on Parade

**chapter six**

_broken hearts hurt but they make us strong and_

_we won't stop until somebody calls the cops_

_and even then we'll start again and just pretend that_

_nothing ever happened_

_we're just dancing, we're just hugging,_

_singing, screaming, kissing, tugging_

_on the sleeve of how it used to be_

_how's it gonna be?_

It was her birthday.

This thought drifted across Ana's mind somewhere between three and four am on that early Wednesday morning as she lay across Sweeney Todd's stomach with her head resting on his bare chest. He was awake, and had been for god knew how long, and she figured he thought she was asleep, because she could feel goose pimples rise on her arms as he ran his fingers up and down her bare back in senseless patterns. It was endearing how he only did those little things when he thought she was a sound asleep. Many a times she would lay awake beside him, and he would play with her hair or run his fingers over her skin so lightly that it only felt like the breath of a breeze.

Smiling to herself, Ana nestled her face against his chest, her flaming red locks sprawling out over his pale skin like a halo. She felt him tense beneath her and she let out a soft sigh. He continued racing his fingers over her skin as if nothing had paused him.

It was her birthday. She was eighteen. A woman. It should have been a day for celebration. But for Ana, it felt like just another day. Another day that she would deal with Mr. Todd's angry glares at Malachai when the boy came into the shop just as she was fixing her barber breakfest. Another day she would get reprimanded later for going up and down the bakehouse steps by Mr. Todd. Another day that Ana would throw up just before it was time to open shop and another day she would curse the child in her belly. Another day that she would listen to Mr. Todd's pacing above her shop and wait until she could go up to his shop and force her company on him.

There was nothing special about that day other than she was a year older.

"Why don't you sleep, Ana?" Mr. Todd's voice in the dark, quiet room startled her and she tensed against him. His low chuckle relaxed her almost instantly and she nuzzled her face into his chest as his fingers continued to run ever so smoothly along her arm. Alright, so maybe he knew she was awake. She knew his senses were ten times what hers ever would be- he noticed the changes in her breathing when they weren't even touching. It was a surprise that he didn't notice that she'd been laying awake half the night.

"I've just been thinking," she said quietly, closing her eyes to the darkness behind her lids. His smell completely surrounded her- he smelt of vanilla. Vanilla and rain. He shifted beneath her.

"Thinkin' 'bout wot, my pet?" the barber questioned quietly. Ana lifted her head, levering herself with her arms crossed over his chest. Their faces were closer than she realized- she could see his shadowed counterance in the dim light of the room, a candle still flickering in the corner, clinging to life. Her hair fell like curtains around their faces and she could feel a smile lighting up her lips.

"I turned eighteen about an hour and a half ago," she said as equally soft. "Today's my birthday."

The feel of his fingers dancing of her bare back aburptly ended and she could see his brows fall to the middle of his forehead, slamming together with thought. Thought that would be like pulling teeth to get him to admit to her. "What's wrong?" she whispered.

There was nothing but silence from the barber and she forced herself not to get upset with him and instead laid her head back down on his chest and gave a hefty sigh. "You don't have to tell me then, but I won't tolerate you being upset all day--"

"Yehr so young," Mr. Todd's voice cut her off, but it was soft and almost worried, his fingers continuing to trail up and down along her back. Ana winced. What was it with everyone and her _age_ lately! First Malacai, then her barber? She suddenly wished that she'd kept her big mouth shut- heaven knows that would've been a miricle for once in her life. What did _he_ care anyway? What with the way they were carrying on the only thing he should have been caring about was that she didn't beat him over the head with the biggest rolling pin in the kitchen because _he_ wasn't the one who had to deal with Malachai's endless questions on how she had hurt her hand. Grunting, Ana lifted herself again so that she hovered of his face.

"Y'know, Malachai said the same thing," she murmured. "Only he hold me that you were too old."

There was another small silence. "Yehr no older than my Johanna," he whispered. "A few years, maybe..."

"She's sixteen, I'm eighteen," Ana said defensively. "I'm plenty older than she is. Besides, I'm not Johanna. I'm Analise."

"I knew yeh were young," Mr. Todd said quietly. "I didn't know yeh were so young."

Ana snorted. "Do you really care?"

There was a hefty sigh from the barber. "...No. But there is those 'ho will," he smoothed his palm from her shoulders all the way to the curve of her back. "It surprises me that yeh 'aven't come to me earlier about this," he said. "Don't yeh realize the danger yehr in?"

"What?" she asked, her brows furrowed. "What danger?"

His laughter was almost cruel. "Yeh never stop yeh runnin' mouth to see what's around yeh, do yeh?" His hand tightened around her when she gave him a very unhappy glare. "Easy," he crooned. But then his voice turned serious- each word sunk into her heart with a cold spike. "Where 'ave you been livin' all these years? Yehr out of wedlock and wiv child. Ana, yeh'll go to Bedlam."

There was a long silence before Ana's hand slammed down on the middle of his chest. "Why didn't you say anything, you stupid, useless brute!" she snarled. He grunted and grabbed her hands, forced her off his body and to his side, her back pressed into the bed. She missed his warmth, but he was quickly nestled up against her again, one arm sliding around her shoulders to keep her still.

"I though yeh would come to me eventually!" he snarled right back. Ana jerked her hands away from him and gave him another slap in the middle of the chest, listening to the red mark sting.

"Mr. T!" Ana gasped, a sudden fear sinking into her heart. "I don't remember anything before a few months ago! How many times do I have to _tell_ you that?"

"Everythin' yeh say all sounds the same!" he complained rather childishly. "Yeh never shut up!"

"Nice to know you _listen_!" Ana snapped, pulling away from him and sitting up, drawing her legs to her chest. If she were home- where ever home was -the worst she would get was a long talking to. A long, long talking to. Here she risked going away to some funny-farm? And here she thought she'd gotten this whole other-worldly thing down. At first all the hands-on things got to her, and at first carrying buckets for water to the tub seemed insane, and at first everything that she did now seemed so alien to her, but she'd figured it out and now it seems almost normal. And yet she'd been so inept with social things, seeing as she never left the shop save going some place with Nellie, that the thought of what people would say or think never once crossed her mind.

Especially about the child.

Mr. Todd's arms came around her, sitting up beside her on the bed. She leaned her body into his. "What am I supposed to do?" she asked quietly. "Do you think that..." She shivered. "...would anyone notice one more woman? Just me, a lowly little baker... I..."

"Hush," the man murmured, pulling her closer to him and falling back on the bed. She nestled her face into his chest and streched her body flush against his, one arm flopped over his belly. "I s'pose there's only one thing to do..." He paused, possibly for dramatic affect as Ana tensed beside him. "We'll 'ave to marry."

Ana's laughter even surprised herself as she leaned up to look down at him. "Now, Mr. T, be serious," she said softly. He glared up at her.

"I _am_ being serious," he snarled. "Either marry me or spend the rest of your life in the mad house and never see your child." He coughed. "For convience on both our parts, of course..."

"For convience, of course..." Ana murmured. "Because, well, because we don't love each other. And marrying you for convience would be better than marrying you because we're tricking ourselfs into thinking that we love each other when we don't..."

"Oh, yes, yes," the barber murmured, obviously uncomfortable.

"And because, I mean, with the way we're carrying on, it's only the good christian thing to do, to marry..." Ana murmured.

"Oh, yes, yes, good christian thing to do, indeed," Mr. Todd grunted.

"So... so, it's settled then," Ana said as she laid her head back on his chest.

"Yes, settled," replied Mr. Todd. "We'll marry on Sunday."

"Sunday? So soon?" asked Ana.

"I don't see why not," he grunted. "The sooner the better."

Ana lay silent for a while, sinking in what had happened between the time she admitted her age to Mr. T and that moment. She was engaged. Hmm. Pillowing her head against his chest, she cleared her throat.

"Yes, Ana?" he said in an exasperated voice.

"Mr. Todd, you don't love me, do you?" she asked. Another heavy silence fell over them. She thought for a moment that he wasn't going to respond to her and she let sleep weight heavy on her limbs. She nestled against him, sighing. She didn't know why he should answer her- he made it very clear with the way he talked and moved and spoke that he did not care for her as anything more than what they were now. And that wasn't much. She was having his child, but that was a result of one mistake. And she'd made it very clear a few nights ago when she tried to drown her child in gin that he didn't love her. At least, when she did he didn't bother to correct her. But she needed him to say it- she needed peace of mind and she needed him to say it.

"No, Ana, I do not." He whispered.

Ana tried to find a logical reason for her throat to get tight and her eyes to get wet, but she couldn't.

"Good," she whispered. "Because I don't love you, either."

That morning passed slowly. The both of them crawled out of bed earlier than either would have liked and dressed in silence. Ana hadn't bee able to get back to sleep and had eventually rolled over and completely ignored Mr. Todd's attempts at getting her to lay with him again. Eventually, he too had roleld over and ignored her. All treason seemed to be forgiven, however, as the baker and the barber moved slowly through the house and shop. Ana made them both breakfast and propped open the doors to the shop, letting in the warm summer sunlight, despite it being dampened by rolling, gray clouds.

Ana supposed that she didn't really expect anything more than this. The only reason either of them were going through with this marriage for strictly for convience. It wasn't as if she loved him- no, that would be like taking his razor and putting it to her own throat. Loving him was a lost cause. He didn't love anything. He didn't love her. Maybe somewhere in his heart he still loved his dead wife, but now she was truely dead. So he didn't love anything. It made her almost anxious, the thought of Sweeney Todd being forced to be a father again.

The thought of it almost made her laugh- what kind of family would they make? What kind of mother would she make? The bruises were gone but she could remember the sharp, painful marks that had dotted her pallid skin when Mr. Todd had found her. She tried to calm herself, tell herself she would be a better mother than her own had been.

Ana was just getting ready to make a trip down to the bake house to bring up the first morning's batch of pies when the sound of foot steps echoing on the early morning street drew her attention towards the court door just as Malachai swung himself into the shop. Both Ana and Mr. Todd jumped at his sudden appearance.

"Good morning, M'am! Sir!" Malachai chirpped. Ana placed one hand on her hip, the other waggling her rag at him.

"You're early today, Malachai," she chided. "I don't need you for another hour!"

"Oh, I know!" said the boy. "But I 'ad to escort m'sister to Bell Yard an' I thought I'd come by early an' see if yeh needed anythin' of me."

"No," snapped Mr. Todd. Ana slapped him on the shoulder with her rag.

"Now, now, Mr. T," she said. "No need to be hostile." She turned to Malachai with a smile. "You can do me a favor and run down and get the pies from the bakehouse. And then you can go to the grocer and pick me up some things."

"Yes m'am!"

Ana smiled as she watched him disappear down to the bake house, but her smile didn't last long. Mr. Todd stood and began to exit the shop. "Where are you going?" she asked.

"Open up me own shop," he grunted. Ana frowned and grabbed him by the arm. He jerked around to look at her with dark eyes, his lip curled back. It was probably not smart to be goading him like this- but then again, it's been aforementioned plenty a time that Ana wasn't particularly smart when it came to such matters.

"Are you going to be like this all day, then?" she snapped. "Because--"

The barber grabbed her by the upper arms and dragged her closer, swallowing her words with his lips on her own. Ana gasped softly when he drew back, releasing her by the arms.

"Relax," he crooned, his lips twitching upward in a sly smirk. "We marry on Sunday."

And with that he was gone, leaving Ana to stand there in the middle of the dusty shop, head still spinning from the impromptu kiss. "...He just did that to shut me up," she murmured in awe.

"Who did wot?" Malachai chirped as he sauntered back into the shop, setting down a large tray of pies on the table.

"Nothing," Ana said lightly. "Come, I'll walk with you to the grocer just down on Bell Yard. I have good news!" She took him by the elbow and pulled him along side her. Malachai's face held bursting curiosity, but he managed to wait until they were down the road to prod her in the shoulder and attack her with questions,

"Well, Miss Ana? Wot is it? Wot've you to tell me?"

Ana smiled slyly. "Today I turn eighteen," she said.

"Wot a wonderful news!" the boy said brightly. "Why didn't yeh mention earlier it wos yeh birfday?"

"That's not all!" Ana said chidingly. There was a long pause before, "I'm engaged."

"_YEHR WOT_?!"

"Will you be quiet?" Ana hissed as a few birds lifted from the ground infront of them and took off for the rooftops. "Engaged- I'm engaged to be married on Sunday."

"Sunday?" Malachai stammered. He looked so lost for a moment, then his eyes darkened. "Are yeh engaged to Mr. Sweeney Todd?" he asked huffily.

"And if I am?" Ana snapped.

"Yehr just a child, Ana! 'E's too old for yeh!" Malachai defended. The baker pinched him in the arm, but that didn't derail him. "And yeh know, I don't even think 'e loves yeh! Yeh shouldn't marry summon that don't love yeh!"

"You're younger than I am!" Ana snarled. "Besides, you don't know anything about Mr. Todd. He's been very good to me."

"Is that why yeh're gonna marry 'im? Cos yeh think yeh owe 'im summat?" he snapped, grabbing her by the arms and wheeling them to a stop. The streets were still fairly empty and the few people who were out walked by their little spat quickly and without taking notice. Ana slapped his hands off her arms.

"No, that's not why I agreed to marry him," she said hotly, turning and continuing on her way towards Bell Yard. She wasn't so lucky as to avoid his questioning. She thought of Malachai as a friend- she wanted him to be... not happy for her, but supportive of her. She wanted him to know she was marrying Mr. Todd so that when her belly began to get noticably bigger he wouldn't question things as much, perhaps even be happy for her _then_. But this wasn't going as she had planned. He was angry and hot and as she tried to keep walking he grabbed her wrist and wheeled her to a stop.

"Then why are yeh doin' it?" he asked. "Yehr young an' pretty an' yeh could marry some rich man _yerh age_ and yeh could be so 'appy."

"I _am_ happy!" Ana snarled.

"Oh, yehr 'appy all right," Malachai mocked. Ana grabbed him by the collar of his vest and pulled him down to her level, sneering in his face.

"I. Am. Happy." She ground out, releasing him. "Now, I don't want to hear any more of this. I'm engaged to be married on Sunday. And that's that."

"I just 'ave one more question," he said quietly, looking thoroughly chided. Ana rose her brows and nodded for him to go on. "Why? Do yeh love 'im? Does 'e love yeh? How--"

"That's more than one question," Ana said softly. Malachai frowned, but stayed quiet. "I don't love him," she admitted. "And he doesn't love me. It's a marriage out of convience. But you're young yet. Don't bother your pretty little head with those thoughts."

"Convience?" he asked softly. "Yeh don't love him?"

Ana couldn't stand the crushed look on his face. "We're not all as lucky as the pretty ones," she said. Nellie had said it those months ago. Before she died. That's what she'd told her. How funny that she was saying it again herself to young Malachai.

"But- Ana--!"

"Enough, Malachai!" Ana said, whirling on him, feeling a sudden anger welling up inside her. She was sick of him already on her tail about this, and she wished that she'd kept her big mouth shut. She really, really REALLY needed to learn how to keep her big, fat, mouth, _shut_! "Alright? Just stop it! True love doesn't exist for you, or for me, or for anyone else!" She grabbed him by the arms and shook him. "It doesn't exist, Malachai! I'm never going to marry for love so I might as well marry for what Mr. Todd has to offer me." Her hands fumbled as they grabbed for her purse, shoving a few coins into Malachai's hands. "Go buy me the usual from the grocer and then come back to shop. And I want to here no more of your stupid, naive blather."

The hurt look on his face was lost as her hair fell around her face with her wild turn. She started back the way she'd come, the pie shop just a short walk from where the disturbance had taken place. As she came upon the shop, a man was just stepping down from Mr. Todd's parlor. "Baker!" He crowed. He was fat and pompus and smelt sour. She looked at him with surprise as he addressed her before she could retreat into her shop.

"Yes, sir?" she asked, forcing a smile on her lips, which felt too heavy to smile.

"A pie, baker!" he man said loudly. Ana smirked to herself and slipped inside the shop, grabbing one of the pies Malachai had brought up and placing it on a plate.

"Of course, sir," she said, handing him the plate as he sat in the booth. "A nice veal pie, sir."

After he left, he was the only customer Ana saw that morning. She almost forgot about Malachai until he returned at noon with her groceries. Feeling almost bad for her earlier behavior, she attempted to smile and warm him with chatter.

"Where've you been?" she teased. "Getting my supplies never takes this long."

"I apologise, m'am," Malachai said formerly, not looking her in the face. "Wott else can I do for yeh, m'am?"

"Malachai," Ana said softly, standing from her stool behind the counter. He stood across the shop from her and shifted his body away when she took a few steps around the counter. "Malachai, don't act like this..."

"Wot else can I do for yeh, m'am?" he whispered, the hurt evident in his voice. Brows furrowed, Ana sighed.

"You can go down and start another batch of pies," she said blankly. "I can hear the temple bloods begging for some thick veal pies."

"Yes, m'am," the boy said formally before he disappeared around the court door, down into the bakehouse.

Once he was gone, Ana tossed her rag angrily at the floor, though it didn't make her feel better. She dropped into the booth and strung her fingers through her hair, pulling on the locks until a few broke off in her fingers. Tears stung her eyes and she suddenly hated her female body for being so emotional. So, she lost the only friend she had in London because she was bitter and broken. Big deal.

...Very big deal.


	7. Chapter 7

**title** Scream

**author** pinkeop

**summary** From now on when I think of you, I scream. -Companion Fic to Girl Anachronism- -AU-

**authors note **Whelp, here you go!! Chapter Seven, the one you've ALL been dying and WAITING for. You know you have. ;

I wanna thank all my reviewers for reviewing and keeping my spirits up. My plot bunnies are running around my head like crazy, so expect sooner updates and such.

And btw...

SWEENEY TODD ON DVD! BWAHAHA!

Love!

Pink Elephants on Parade

--

**chapter seven**

_I don't know if you'll forgive me_

_For being so blind_

_To how you felt_

_Don't ask me why I couldn't see it_

_It might take me years to figure out_

_And that's not something I know much about_

_But there's only one way to find out_

_What I know is that I've hurt you, _

_What I know is that I suck_

_And what I know is that I'm sorry _

"Why are you still awake, pet? Yehs hould be resting now. For tomorrow, and all..."

Ana looked up at the sound of the barber's soft voice, feeling only slightly startled at his quiet, ghostly appearance. The look on his pallid face was almost one of concern, but it flickered away witht he dancing shadows that the flames of the fireplace caused, nothing more than a trick of the light. The parlor was warm that night with the fire, yet Ana tugged the hem of her cotton night gown over her toes, seeming unable to keep them warm enough as she curled up on the couch. All week had been fretfully stressful- she didn't know if her poor tummy would take anymore dry heaving in the mornings, as she usually went to bed without making herself any supper. Malachai still wasn't speaking with her and when he did he replied with short, curt words- Yes, m'am. No, m'am. What can I do for yeh, m'am? She missed already his fluent conversation flow. He'd been more on edge that warm Saturday and she could only figure it was because her wedding day was close upon them. Mr. Todd had taken care of all the messy details and tomorrow all she had to do was sign her name and say, "I do."

Ana's brows furrowed and she smoothed her hands over her stomach. It was getting bigger, but not by much. Yet it wouldn't be long until it would be noticable under the many layers of her dresses she wore on her sickly small frame. Another thing that Mr. Todd would undoubtedly see to. Her stomach seemed constantly hungry. She supposed she would be eating for more than two soon enough, if her barber had his way. Which he usually did.

"Pet?" Mr. Todd sounded from the parlor door way. Ana jerked out of the sea of thoughts in which she drowned, blinking rapidly. Slowly, he came to sit ever so awkwardly on the couch, staying a descent distance to her left. "It's half 11 at night. You should get some rest tonight."

Ana wrinkled her nose and stared moodily at the fire. A sigh rattled her vocals. "Malachai won't talk to me, not since I got into that row with him when I told him we were engaged," she murmured miserably. "He wont even call me by my name. He just does what I tell him. He's angry with me. Because I yelled at him. Maybe he thought I was different, I don't know- but I yelled at him and told him he was stupid and naive..." She sniffed, but she could practically feel Mr. Todd tense beside her. He grunted under his breath.

"He's a child, still," Mr. Todd said. Ana turned her head to look at him so quickly that she whipped herself in the eye with a lock of her own hair. Was he actually making an attempt at consoling her over Malachai, the child he despised? "He'll come around. He can't hold a grudge against you forever. Now, enough moping about him- we're to be at St. Dunstun's at noon- and you need _sleep_."

Well... almost consolation.

Ana sighed. "Come to be with me," she begged. It was to her amusement that she watched the sudden flash in his eye and the cogs turning in his dirty little mind. Her laugh was a warm welcome fromm the odd gloom of the night. "Just to sleep," she amended. "I get lonely. I'm not entirely used to Nellie being gone yet. I hope she's enjoying it by the sea..." Some part of her was immensely afraid that she spat that out without stuttering. Another part of her, a bigger part, had repeated that lie so many times, she believed it herself, for the most part. She didn't, however, understand the pity that clouded Mr. Todd's eyes.

"Of course, pet," he murmured, standing and taking her by the hand and helping her to her feet. A sudden dizziness came over her and she took a moment to gain her footing again. Ignoring the sick feeling in her stomach, the two retreated into the bed chamber, Mr. Todd already pushing her onto her back on the bed and pulling her night gown up and over her belly. Laying back on the bed, hair fanned around her head like a halo, Ana watched as Mr. T lay his own head against her stomach. She couldn't help the warm smile that graced her lips as she tilted her head to watch the curious sight. Sweeney Todd was an angry, evil, vengeful man. He was harsh, and cruel and he didn't love her or anything around him. He did not know beauty, or light, or good. The line between good and evil was smeared so badly that he straddled the boarders with distinct ease. He would sooner pull a razor on you to subsitute the conclusion of confrontation than actually talk it out.

And yet, despite all of that, as Ana looked down with a tilted head propped on the pillows, slipping in and out of conciousness, she couldn't imagine a man more fit to father the child that grew soundly, unawares of it's surroundings, in her belly. The young bride-to-be fell asleep with that thought in her head and the image of the hard, vicious Sweeney Todd with his head gently lain upon her stomach.

That night, Ana dreamed... almost peacefully. She dreamt of young boys with black hair and blue eyes and with bright, warm smiles. She dreamt of Mr. Todd and of big, elaborate weddings where as she stepped out of the church there were onlookers who would gaze upon her and her husband and burn green with envy. She dreamt of soft, squishy, pale skinned babies that smelt like what babies should smell like. She dreamt of warm sun and the sea side and the smell of the ocean water, which smelt suspiciously like warm Vanilla. And she dreamt of dark stair wells and cold stone. Of blood coating the floor, of a young child with a slit throat and a burnt corpse half hanging from a large furnace- and she dreamt of a sharp face, drenched in blood, splattered like patterns across pale skin. And a scream- a loud, piercing scream to wake the dead. A woman's scream- a pained, woman's scream- a pained woman's scream in the depths of a dark room where there was no one to save her--

Her scream.

Ana awoke to sharp nudges and shakes. Her arms hurt with how tight something gripped them. When she finally peeled her eyes open, they were hit with bright light and she hissed, snapping them closed again.

"Ana, wake up!" A snarled voice demanded as she tried to thrash the hold off of her. "Ana, it's just a dream, wake up!"

Forcing her eyes back open, Ana saw Mr. Todd straddling her legs, his hands gripped tight around her arms and holding her against the bed. Panting, Ana felt something cool against her forehead and realized it was the sweat cooling on her skin. Her throat felt tight and her stomach sick and she gave a few deep breaths before her tense muscles seemed to relax to any degree.

She had been the one screaming, she realized. Mr. Todd looked ruffled and startled, like he'd just awoke, his hair wild- so much so that if he were to stick his head out of his shop door to see what sort of weather it was, he would be mistaken for an indian head-dress(1). Swallowing, her throat sore, she let out a breath and placed one hand over her eyes.

Mr. Todd, when finding that she was herself again, gently let her arms go and swung one leg over her body so that he fell onto the soft matress beside her. He fit his arm snugly about her waist, his cheek on the top of her head. "Tisn't half seven in the morning- tisn't even time to wake up yet. Dare I question what ails your dreams?" He murmured into her head, obviously ready to drift back to sleep for another hour before they would both had to wake up to start the day. The day that suddenly had butterflies bubbling in Ana's poor tummy.

"Just a nightmare," Ana murmured into his throat, letting out a soft sigh. "I'm sorry I woke you up..."

The barber did nothing but grunt. "Go back to sleep, then," he said softly. Ana shook her head and began detangling herself- to tried to. Every time she got one arm off of her, the other simply slipped back around her, tugging her closer, like a favorite toy he did not want to part with. Suddenly, she was laughing and his lips were pursed to hide a smile as she tired to escape his quick grasp. Breathless, she settled back down by his side and he placed his chin atop her head contentedly.

"Mr. T," she chided, shaking her head. The man made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a low chuckle.

The couple took their time in finally crawling out of bed around 10, two hours later than what would have been normal. Mr. Todd excused himself, claiming he would allow her to dress and ready herself how she saw fit. This was a simple day, Ana reasoned to herself as she carefully tied her hair up in long white ribbons that she found hidden away in a drawer of the vanity. A few loose locks fell against her pale throat, the flaming red hair standing sharply against her pallid skin. It was almost attractively endearing, so she left the messy up do as it were, slowly and lazily pulling off her night gown and instead digging through the closet of dresses. She chose, after careful consideration, a convient, simple dress for this day of simple convience. It was devoid of ruffles and had little lace, but made of soft, smooth, cream colored fabric. She fit herself into a corset over her slip, keeping it slightly loose to that her bigger belly wouldn't be too constricted.

As Ana gazed upon her short form in the mirror along the wall, she felt a soft smile graze her lips. It wasn't an elaborate wedding dress, nor was it particularly fancy, but it was the closest thing to white she had in that closet and that was good enough for her.

She shook her head and turned away from the mirror. Despite that they were worn to death and didn't match anything, Ana laced up her rotten pink converse trainers onto her feet. She retreated from the bed chamber, smoothing her skirt free of any wrinkles. As she rounded the corner from the parlor and into the shop, she was met with none other than young Malachai sitting there in the shop at the booth. Eyes wide, Ana got a hopeful pool of butterflies swarming in her stomach- until she remembered that she simply owed him sixpence for that weeks work.

"Morning, love!" Ana chirped. "How'd you get in here? Swore I locked the doors... Must've forgotten..."

"Mr. Sweeney Todd let me in," Malachai said cooly. Ana felt her brows furrow, glancing away from the boy that'd once been her good friend. When she looked back, she noticed that the boy held a handful of daisies in his hands. "Thought 'e slep up there." He nodded his head upward. Her stomach dropped, but giving him a good glare, she placed her hands on her hips.

"You know how cold the nights are going to be getting?" Ana snapped. "I let him sleep on the couch- besides, we're practically wed. Today at noon. What's it to you where he sleeps?"

"A lady shouldn't sleep wiv a man she ain't wed to," Malachai spat. Ana clenched her jaw.

"Why don't you go preach to the whores on the street?" She snapped. The boy winced, looking like a stricken puppy. He glanced down at his feet. When he looked up, his big blue eyes were wide and sad.

"I"m sorry, Ana," he said suddenly. Ana frowned. That hadn't been what she was expecting at all. In fact, she had been preparing for a row to end all rows. Her expression softened suddenly.

"I didn't wanna come 'ere to fight wiv yeh. Yeh've been such a good friend to me. It's stupid of me to pick a row wiv yeh on such a happy day for yeh..." the boy stood and held out the small boquet of flowers. "I brought these fer yeh... if yeh'll take 'em..."

Ana couldn't imagine a better way to begin such a day. A smile couldn't be contained on her lips and she politely took the daisies from him.

"Oh, Malachai!" she bleated, throwing herself at him, wrapping her small arms around his tall shoulders, pulling him down to her height. The two friends embraced in their reunion, Ana feeling his arms slither around her middle and lift her off her toes. When she finally stepped back, they smiled with radient warmth. Even if Mr. T disliked her Malachai, he was _her's_, and she wasn't going to let a stupid row get between their friendship again.

"So..." Malachai said, sounding more relaxed than he had all week. "You marry today."

Ana lay the daisies on the counter- she would hold them during the short ceremony -and began to pace and fidget, cleaning what not needed to be cleaned. She nodded her head. "That's right," she replied. "Noon."

Malachai glanced upwards with a flash of distaste. Ana let it slide for at least he kept his mouth such on such matters. She finally came to sit at his side, sliding into the booth noiselessly.

"Can I ask yeh somefing?" The young helper questioned. Ana shrugged her shoulders and waved a hand for him to go on.

Malachai paused before stating his question, speaking each word carefully as to not offend. "For wot convience do yeh marry Mr. Sweeney Todd?"

At that moment, as if to remind her that she lied to the boy by exlcusion, her stomach felt as if she were going to be sick. Ana took three deep breaths before she responded, making sure she wasn't going to spew sick everywhere.

"You hear how people talk, don't you?" She made up on the spot, sounding hot and annoyed with all the 'gossip'. By the look on Malachai's face, she gathered he cared about what other people were saying as much as she really did- which was very little. "Besides, it just makes life easier for Mr. Todd and myself. Things you're young self doesn't have to worry about just yet."

Malachai looked significantly lose and she gave herself a pat on the backfor being so vauge.

Ana stood up and smoothed her hands over her belly. "Why don't we go walk down to the candy shop and get some treats, and then we can sit outside and chit chat until I have to get going?"

Malachai paled, jumping out of his seat. "Oh, shoot! I really can't. I completely forgot, I need to be escorting my sist'a--"

"MAL!" A sudden, sharp voice snapped from around the corner of the court door. Ana jerked her head towards the sound. Peering in from the door stood a short, buxom young girl. Her black hair was twisted up in a much more crazy up do and a raggedy dress clung to her frame. Her bright blue eyes zeroed in on the boy that looked to be her taller, more obedient double. "Malachai Wilmot(2), Mum'll give yeh a good whippin' when I tell 'er yeh dawdled takin' me to Fetter-lane(3) just like she told yeh!"

Ana but back a chortle as Malachai glanced at her with an exasperated expression. "Forgive me sister, she 'as no patience."

"Now, Mal!" the young girl snapped.

"Or manners!" her brother chided. "Alice(4), step in for a tick an' say 'ello to my friend, Miss Ana! She's to be wed today- give 'e yehr blessings!"

Ana was just about to oppose, but Alice, who had been scowling at Malachai up until that point, turned her attention onto Ana. Her expression brightened almost instantly. She stepped inside, clapping her hands together.

"Hello and much jubilance for your special day, Miss Ana!" Alice said politely. Ana chuckled and flashed her a warm smile.

"Thank you, Alice," Ana said.

"Someday I hope my own wedding day should come. For, Miss Ana, I love!" Alice said brightly. Ana was taken aback by the presence with which Alice possessed the attenion of those around her. She couldn't take her eyes of her bright blue eyes and mischeivious smile. She was young, perhaps the age of Malachai or younger. She hadn't the heart to explain to her the convience of the wedding, nor the lack of love. "Yet," Alice went on angrily. "I shall never love again if me brother doesn't escort me to Fetter-lane and _soon_! Mum'll box yeh good if yeh don't take me to me engagement!"

Malachai snorted. "Yehr love is fleeting, Alice." He sighed gently and took Ana by the hands. "I should go. I advise yeh to close shop morrow, or even until the week is out."

"What for?" Ana asked, glancing past him to a very impatient Alice, who was waiting at the doorway.

"You and Mr. Sweeney Todd should take off fer a honeymoon..." he hinted. "Yeh deserve a break away from London."

Ana's smile felt like a grimmace. "Honeymoon's are for lovers. My shop'll be open tomorrow as usual."

Malachai's expression dropped. "But, Ana--"

"Hush," Ana said, placing a finger on his lips. "Go take your sister to where she needs to be. I'll be seeing you tomorrow."

Malachai sighed a heavy sigh before he took off, getting his ear chewed off by his upset sister as he went.

Ana slumped into a seat, running her hands over his face. She didn't know if she should feel guilty for relating to Malachai that she wasn't marrying Mr. Todd for love. But it was only the truth- why should she feel guilty for relating the truth? It wasn't like she wished to be marrying Mr. Todd for other reasons. She happened to like the way they had been before- simple, no complications. No attatchments. Love wasn't something Ana had expected out of her barber. Maybe he might care for her- or learn to care for her and the child he now fathered -but love was a forgien concept. Even if he did feel it, he wouldn't know it. He wouldn't know how to feel it.

"Wot's wiv the flowers?" A gruff voice murmured from behind her. Ana lifted her head and turned in the booth to look at the barber, but what she saw surprised her. Mr. Todd stood just inside the shop's threashold. His hair was combed and patted down, pushed back out of his face, which seemed to have a little more color than usual. His black eyes gazed off to the side of the counter where her daisies rested. He was wearing a simple black suit, his neck tie tucked under the lapels of his jacket. He looked mildly uncomfortable standing there. The suit looked old and worn, as if it hadn't seen the light of day for years- he'd obviously attempted to brush the dust off the black fabric and failed miserably.

Ana snorted. "What's with the suit?" she mocked.

He scowled right at her.

Amending, Ana motioned to the daisies. "Malachai gave them to me. For the wedding."

"I was roight, then?" he murmured, moving to slide into the booth across from her. She rose a brow, bading him to elaborate. "'E came 'round, did 'e?"

"Yeah," Ana said with a grin. "He did. Thanks."

The barber looked surprised. "For wot?"

"You don't like Malachai much, but you recognize that he means something to me. And that means something to me. _You_ mean something to me, and I'd like to thank you for it."

The man looked down at the table top, obviously uncomfortable. "Er... Yehr welcome..." he grunted.

Ana's laugh echoed in the quiet shop on that quiet Sunday morning. And, for some reason unknown to Ana, nor myself, nor you, reader, Sweeney Todd smiled back at her with an unexplained warmth in his expression.

St. Dunstun's was not a far walk from Fleet Street, and so the couple escaped from the shop and to the church a quarter to noon, and still ended up early for their engagement. Ana felt as if she were in a dream as she stood at the front of that church, listening to the man who stood before them, speak upon them the ceremony that he had probably preformed at least three times in the previous days. She held her daisies tightly to her stomach and she stood a foot apart from Mr. Todd. She glanced at him every few moments or so. He looked calm, but also uncomfortable. As if the few people who occupied this church, enough to preform the ceremony, would figure out his secrets.

"Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

Ana's attention was drawn back to the man before them- a bald, stout little man. Brows slammed together in the middle of her forehead, she mumured, "I do."

There was a minute pause before, "And do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

There was no pause. No hesitation in his voice. It was clear and rang out through the church with clarity. "I do."

"Then, I pronounce you husband and wife," the man sounded pleased with his duty. "You may now kiss your bride."

Ana turned to him just slightly, for it was he he grabbed her by the arms and turned her body to face him the entire way. He leaned down, and she stood on her toes to meet his lips half the way. And with that kiss, it was sealed.

She was offically Mrs. Analise Todd.

--

(1) _if he were to stick his head out of his shop...indian head-dress_... A reference to 'The String of Pearls - A Romance', the original story of Sweeney Todd. In the novel, Sweeney is described as the aforementioned.

(2) _Malachai Wilmot_... A reference to 'The String of Pearls - A Romance', the original story of Sweeney Todd. 'Wilmot' is the surrname of Arabella Wilmot, a childhood friend to one of the main characters, Johanna Oakley.

(3) _Fetter-lane... _A reference to 'The String of Pearls - A Romance', the original story of Sweeney Todd. Fetter-lane is a street in which a part of the novel takes place.

(4) _Alice_... A cameo appearance of **Ryti**'s character, Alice Lisle, from her original AU Sweeney Todd story, _Impossible_, from which her surrname has been changed from Lisle to Wilmot.


	8. Chapter 8

**title** Scream

**author** pinkeop

**summary** From now on when I think of you, I scream. -Companion Fic to Girl Anachronism- -AU-

**authors note **AAAHHHH so I check my email this morning and have eight emails from and I was like, "YEAH THATS MORE LIKE IT YOU PEOPLE BETTER REVIEW!"

I hope you like this chapter. grin It was tons of fun to write. I'm going to just tell you now- chapter nine is a filler chapter, but you'll like it. Some light fluffiness, y'know? Chapter ten is where the real drama happens. BECAUSE I ACTUALLY HAVE ANOTHER PLOT OTHER THAN THE FACT THAT SWEENEY'S A BABYDADDY.

I know, you're amazed right?

Don't forget to read and review!! You have no idea how much your reviews mean to me you guys! I wish I could personally thank each and every one of you, but I would get hand cramps from trying. Hah!

Andaere- Spaces, no spaces, do whatever, but don't stop reviewing! -sends oodles of love-

And now, I'm gonna go make like Ana and NAP!

Love!

Pink Elephants On ParZzzzzz..zzz..zzz

**--**

**chapter eight**

_Bombs are dropping, smoke fills the air_

_I wanna duck and cover but I've gotta stay out here_

_Cause I know myself and if I hole up in my room_

_I'll be consumed by the doom and the gloom_

_Yeah, and now there's a mountain goat_

_Precariously balanced on the frog stuck in my throat_

_It says "Sometimes whispering's ok_

_But maybe you'd feel better if you screamed today"_

Her stomach was noticable now. There was no hiding from her increasingly nosy neighbors that she, Analise Todd, was pregnant. It was some cause fo gossip, for as the end of september rolled out and october swept in, she and Mr. Todd- she couldn't bring herself to call him Sweeney, not even in her mind -had only been married for less than a month. The fact that she was five months pregnant was indeed cause for chatter. Even Malachai had obviously noticed- but he didn't seem upset with her. He more seemed to pity her, as if she was stuck there in that marriage because he suddenly realized she hadn't any choice. Marry or Bedlam. He was a smart boy- he would not hold such things against her. Not to her face, at least. And yet... young Malachai seemed hopelessly attracted to the bump in her belly that could be seen under the dresses which she wore more loose nowadays.

"Can I feel it?" he had asked one day att he beginning of october, after the last of the customers had left for the night. Ana couldn't help but be good natured about it and had let him feel her swollen belly. They never openly discussed her pregnancy, her and Malachai, but his lack of annoyance with her on the matter was more than comforting. He was a smart boy. A good boy.

Before, Ana saw Mr. Todd in intervals throughout the day. Now, she saw him when she awoke, inbetween customers, as he came down and brought pies up from the bakehouse for her, and when she went to sleep. During dinner rush he would be working as hard as she was, winding through customers and leading his own up to his shop, giving them a shave for their penny's worth and sending them on their way, inevitably returning back down to the shop below and working along side his wife and her soapboy. Not to mention that on slow days he would sit with her in the parlor and on Sundays he would go with her to the market or any other errands she needed to run. He wasn't very good conversation and they never really had high, cultured chats. More often than not the estranged couple could be found, whenever they were out and about, making people turn their heads as they passed with their play fights and flirtacious ease. Most of his replies and rebukes were mono-syllabal and masked under a grunt or two. She saw Mr. Todd in a very different light than most people. No one from the outside looking in would ever by able to tell that when Mr. Todd placed his hand on the back of her neck, that was his way of linking arms with her like other- normal -couples.

Being Mrs. Todd was really something Ana wouldn't have expected, though whatever that really was she didn't know. People found out quickly by way of the simple, silver ring that she wore aruond her left ring finger. It was a simple wedding band for a simple marriage. As if there was really anything simple about she and her Mr. Todd. And he really was _hers_ now. The guilt was fleeting and Ana wasn't even sure she really felt it. People talked- about her heavy pregnancy for her short marriage. But Mr. Todd and Malachai made it easier for her- Mr. Todd because he simply made it easy to stop thinking and Malachai because he didn't see her swollen tummy as any sort of treason. And the fact that the boy, which she soon considered her best friend and only friend in all of London, was not in a row with her made life a whole lot more enjoyable.

It was a nippy, chilly day, and a normal mundane one at that. A Tuesday. Things for excitement aren't reserved for Tuesdays. But as Ana sat on the bottom of the Tonsorial Parlor steps with Malachai at her side, while a portly man was up to recieve a shave and morning business was slow as ever, an odd thing did happen indeed. A young boy, who had been standing across the street for some time now, came jogging across the lane. His messy hair was piled udner a cap and his clothes hung off his thin little frame, but his face held confused determination. He came to a stop in front of Ana and Malachai as they lounged on the stair, the woman rubbing slow circles over her tummy. The young boy shifted from foot to foot.

"Pardon me, M'am?" the child chirped. "But I am looking for a Mr. Sweeney Todd- is there some other Todd that lives on this street?"

"None other," Ana replied curiously. "What do you need from him?"

The boy glanced up the stairs. "I 'ave a letter for 'im," he replied in a curt voice. "For 'is 'and only, m'am."

"I'm his wife," Ana said, holding out her hands. "Give it to me."

"Tis a letter for 'is 'ands only, miss," the little boy snapped. "Tis wot I was told. Mr. Sweeney Todd's 'ands only."

"Mr. Sweeney Todd is up wiv a customer," Malachai spat. "'And 'er the letter, boy."

The child glanced between the boy and the woman before he grudgingly pulled out a folded piece of paper. He handed over the letter and Ana snatched it from him.

"Get on wiv yeh," Malachai spat. He turned to glanced at Ana. "Wot's that about?"

Ana fingered the paper in her hands, chewing at her bottom lip. "I'm not sure..."

"Open it!" urged Malachai. Ana shot him a look.

"S'not ours to open- it's Mr. Todd's," she reasoned. But the curiosity burned inside her- she could see the ink through the thin paper. Glancing behind her and up the stairs, Ana deducted that Mr. Todd was still shaving the gentleman. The two young friends glanced at each other before leaning together and unfolding that letter. It read the following,

_Dear Mr. Sweeney Todd,_

_This letter is from Antony Hope._

_I beg to hear good news from you, my friend. It is with great jubilance that I send you this news. Johanna and myself married not three days after we fled from London to France and have been wed ever since. And she is now four months with child! I am to be a father!_

_It is with even more delight that I relate to you this- Johanna and I are staying with a kind Christian family as I write this, in London, at this moment. We are at the very end of Bell Yard._

_It's all my restraints not to surprise you with a visit at this present time, but my darling Johanna is sick with the child, and she wishes to rest until noon. She sends her blessings to you, and to Miss Ana, and dear Nellie Lovett._

_I will call upon you at noon with my young bride, and I pray you have just as happy news to relate to me upon my visit. It has been daunting the months I have been without contact. It would make a poor Christian indeed if I did not call upon you at the present, for you have done so much for me in aiding with me to free Johanna from that mad-house._

_I will see you soon, my friend!_

_Yours,_

_Antony Hope_

_P.S,_

_Johanna fears, for before we fled she was confronted by what she described as a madman when I left her alone in your shop while you were absent. Your reassurance that all was and is still well would be greatly appreciated, for I fear my wife still has nightmares of a sweaty toothed mad man._

"Tis nothing but a letter from an ol' friend of Mr. Todd," Malachai said, sounding disappointed. "But 'e mentions your name there. An' Mrs. Lovett- the name above the shop?" But Ana was grinning from ear to ear, her eyes alight with some kind of joy. Antony had been another young joy, despite that she hadn't know him well. His name fit him beyond belief. The news of Johanna's pregnancy, a month behind her own, perhaps would not sit well with Mr. Todd, being a father and all, but Ana was overjoyed. Antony and Johanna were two more people in London that she knew- it was no longer a large place that threatened to engulf her. Taking a breath, a suddery, excited breath, Ana folded the ltter again.

"It's Antony and Johanna, not merely just a friend of Mr. T's! Although I'm not sure how pleased Mr. T will be..." Ana bit her lip and stood to her feet. Malachai was up after her. Not thinking what the reprocussions would be should she inturrupt him in the middle of a shave, something he warned her over and over and over not to do, Ana made her way up the steps, feeling actually pregnant for the first time, as the weight on her belly made her slow. Malachai stomped up in tow.

"'Oo is it?" he asked. Ana ignored him once they got to the top of the steps- she threw wide the parlor door in her excitement to tell Mr. Todd of Antony's arrival in only an hour.

"Mr. T!" she squeaked as the door hit the wall, the bell jingling loudly. She heard a hissed profanity from two voices from the barber's chair. Mr. Todd was indeed in the middle of a shave and the man which he was pampering now had a bleeding knick in his cheek. She'd obviously startled the barber, who in turn had cut the man on the cheek. Guilt was fleeting, for Mr. Todd was already dabbing at the man's cute with a rag.

"Wot is this, woman?" the man in the chair snarled, glaring at Ana. Her brows pulled together in the middle of her forehead.

"Please, forgive my wife," the barber grunted- this eyes flashes in her direction dangerously and she knew she wouldn't be getting out of there without a good talking to. He had told her thousands of times to not come bursting in without knocking while he had a customer. But she always failed to listen, or heed his warning. "She has no common sense." He snarled.

The portly man snorted in distaste before standing, rubbing his otherwise smoothly shaven skin. "You best teach 'er some," he growled.

"I will not charge you a penny, sir," Mr. Todd said through clenched teeth. "Granted that yeh return 'gain for business."

The man nodded. "This only seems fair- granted yeh keep yehr wife in 'er shop where she belongs!"

The barber smiled a cruel smile. "I assure you, 'er face shall be a stranger to this shop."

With that, the portly man shrugged past Ana quite rudely. There was a long silence in which Malachai looked between the barber and his wife almost worriedly. Ana swallowed and gave Mr. Todd a sheepish look as the man stood there behind his barber chair, gripping the back so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. He looked thoroughly livid.

"Boy," Mr. Todd snarled, low and angry. "Leave us." When Malachai hesitated, the barber rounded on him with a snarl. "OUT!"

Ana flinched with the force that Malachai fled from that shop. The couple was silent for the longest time. Mr. Todd moved away from the back of the chair and Ana decided to sit herself down. Finally, the man let out a sigh- or, more really, a snarl.

"This is the _third_ time yeh've lost me comission just this _week_!" Mr. Todd spat. "'Ow many times do I 'ave to tell yeh until yeh get it through yehr thick 'ead?! _Don't_ come running up 'ere when there's a customer! Wot could possibly be _so_ important that it could not wait to cause yeh to come running up 'ere like a lunatic loose out of Bedlam? Wot? I said, _Wot_?!"

"You got a letter," Ana said quietly, feeling herself shrinking back in the chair. He bristled and spun to face her.

"A letter?! That's wot's so important?! A letter?!" He roared.

"Dont yell at me, Sweeney Todd!" Ana shouted back, pushing herself out of the chair.

"I'm not yelling at you, Ana!" he rebuked in a loud, overpowering voice.

"Here!" Ana spat, heaving herself to her feet and shoving the letter into his hands. There was silence as he glared at her for a good few minutes until he unfolded the letter moodily. His eyes scanned it over once, twice, three times before his mouth dropped open in surprise, his black eye growing wide. Ana's lips twitched into a wide smile. Hands clasped together in front of her belly, she rocked on the balls of her feet, excitement to see his reaction bubbling inside her.

"Johanna..." he whispered.

"Here at noon!" she said.

"My Johanna?" he asked.

"Your Johanna!" confirmed Ana.

"She _saw_ me that night!" he suddenly roared. Ana yelped, stumbling back and falling into the barber's chair. "She _saw_ me _drenched_ in the Judge's blood! She...she cannot see me or she will _know_!" He threw himself into a wild pacing fit, his foot falls frantic, loud and strong. "I cannot face my own daughter- she will _never_ know her father. _Ever_."

Ana eased herself out of the chair, moving to block Mr. Todd's pacing. He glared down at her a moment before he stalked across the room instead, anger flowing off him in waves. Sighing, she placed her hands on her hips.

"How would she be able to recognize you from just that fleeting moment when I hardly recognize you now?" Ana asked in a gentle voice.

This caused Mr. Todd to pause for a moment, looking back at her. "Wot?" he murmured. Ana took this opprotunity to move to her husband's side. She too him by the hands, pulling him back towards the barber's chair. It still felt odd, touching him so casually. Legally, it was nothing out of the ordinary. But Mr. T never really was a touchy feely sort of bloke. She got him sitting in the chair and she slid herself into the his lap, one arm curling around his shoulder, the other resting lightly on his chest. As an instant reaction, the man curled an arm around her waist, the other coming to rest on her stomach.

Ana sighed and let her eyes rest on his face. "You're... softer," she said slowly, raising the hand on his chest to touch his face, gripping his chin in between her finger tips, tilting his head where she saw fit. "I've never seen your face so relaxed lately." When his lip curled back at this, Ana grimmaced. _Well, behind closed doors, at least..._ "The Sweeney Todd that Johanna met was a monster. I didn't even know who you were that night, much less your entire face obscured with blood..."

"Don't be stupid, Ana," Mr. Todd snorted. "She will not forget the face of her nightmares."

"Try _smiling_ once in a while," Ana teased. "No one'll recognize you, then."

Mr. Todd snorted. "Wot's there to smile about?"

"Me," Ana teased. "Your very loving, very fat and pregnant wife?"

The barber grunted and Ana laughed softly, kissing him on the temple. "Thattaboy," she cooed. He growled, his arms snaking around her waist, pulling her closer on that barber's chair. His lips connected with her throat and her eyes fluttered closed.

"'Ow long 'ave we till Antony an' Johanna get 'ere?" he murmured between soft little kisses. Ana squirmed in his arms, squeaking in surprise when the hand that didn't grip her waist so that she wouldn't go sliding off his lap, began drawing up her skirts, searching for the appex between her thighs that would render her mewling and cooing at his finger tips.

Ana clenched her jaw. "Not _that_ long- oh!" She burried her face into his neck when his hand found it's objective. "Half hour, maybe...Hnn.." She trailed off, words becomming useless to her. Well, it was safe to say that in all the time she had known Mr. Todd, she'd never had _this_ happen to her in the barber's chair. She only half wished she could wipe the smug little smirk she knew that donned his lips as her release rocked through her body, her hips rocking against his callused, barber's hand.

It was also safe to say they'd significantly wasted some time.

When the couple finally emerged from the shop above they were in a considerably better mood- Mr. Todd a bit more anxious than happy -than when Malachai had left them up there. In fact, Ana was chattering away, as always, forever talking as they came down the steps, Mr. Todd's hand on the back of her neck, nodding his head every few seconds and grunting a response when she would glance up at him.

"There you is," Malachai chirpped, jumping up from a table he'd been sitting at. Ana stepped away from Mr. Todd, the man retreating inside the shop. When he was gone, Malachai practically pounced Ana. "Wot was that about?!" He hissed.

Ana sighed, shaking her head. "He just lost his temper, is all. Everything's all right, now. We have visitors today at noon- I'll be closing up shop, but you can stay if you like."

Malachai looked uncomfortable. "Only for a bit," he said. "I wouldn't want to intrude."

Ana shook her head. "Not at all," she said, patting him on the arm. "Could you go bring up the last of those pies from the bakehouse? I'd go myself but I've been forbidden from climbing up and down those steps."

Malachai laughed and placed a hand on her tummy, smiling from ear to ear, knowing exactly why she wasn't allowed to enter her own bakehouse. With that he was off, flouncing away towards the bakehouse steps. When he disappeared down the stone stairs, Ana sat down quite heavily at one of the tables. It wasn't two minutes after she'd sat did Mr. Todd come back out the court door, grabbing her arm and heaving her to her feet. She was about to snap at him for handling her, but he nudged her in the side of his elbow- very gently, mind you.

"They're here," he hissed. Ana looked up and indeed, from across Fleet Street from the direction in which Bell Yard lay, a young couple were crossing towards the pie shop. Ana felt Mr.Todd's grip on the back of her neck, his fingers kneading into her skin in anxiety.

Antony walked briskly with his hand on young Johanna's back, the young woman walking comfortably at his side. They were a sight for weary eyes indeed, the couple seeming bright and joyous, unaware of the gloom around them. A streak of sunshine on a cloudy day. Ana felt an odd excitement begin to bubble in her belly as they crossed Fleet Street, towards the gate of the court beside the Pie Shop. She could only suspect that all four of them looked like the reunion of long lost friends, or a family coming together again. At least, it was what it felt like. Ana took two steps forward just as Antony lead Johanna into the court.

"Miss Ana!" The young sailor chirped. He opened his arms and engulfed her in a hug- well, at least some things never changed, to say the least. "You're looking so well, Miss Ana- and... bigger!" His eyes snapped down to her swollen stomach, holding her at arms length. "You are...?"

"Mrs. Todd," Ana answered with a mischevious smile, stepping back. Her barber placed his hand back on the appex between her shoulders, long fingers curling around her neck. Antony's eyes widened as he gazed between the two.

"You wed!" he said in excitement. Ana laughed and Mr. Todd merely grunted. "And with child! Happy news, friends!" He reached out a hand as to shake Mr. Todd's and to everyone's present surprise, he recieved a reaction. "Yes," the sailor repeated. "Happy news indeed. Johanna!" he chirped, turning half way to usher the young woman foward, who had been hanging back with wide blue eyes. She had a warm, heart shaped face and pale skin, big blue eyes that gazed anxiously between Todd and Ana. She wore a fine dress, outstanding against Antony's sailor clothes. Ana could see the way her own hands clutched her slightly swollen stomach and she let a smile grace her lips.

"Johanna," Antony repeated. "You hadn't the chance to meet Mr. Todd the last time we were in London. He was the man who aided me in saving you from that mad house. And you have met Miss Ana."

Ana watched Johanna warily, keeping for her reaction. The young woman did not seem at all fazed as she gazed upon Mr. Todd's calm, blank counterance.

"Hello, Mr. Todd," Johanna spoke with a high, soft voice. "And many thanks to you and your wife. I would have died alone in that mad-house if it were not for the both of you. I am forever in your dept."

Ana turned her eyes onto Mr. Todd. If she hadn't known better, Ana would have been unnerved by the way the barber gazed upon Johanna with such an expression in his eyes. Ana felt his fingers grip tighter around the back of her neck in anxious flexing. She wished she could console him without drawing attention to his reaction. There was an awkward pause before Mr. Todd gave an understanding nod. The tension broke.

"M'am?"

All four of them turned to see Malachai not standing but a few feet away, looking a bit out of place. Ana smiled and ushered him forward- he looked unsure before he came by her side.

"Malachai, these are friends of ours- good friends -Antony, and Johanna Hope. This is my assistant and best friend, Malachai Wilmot." She introduced brightly. Malachai furrowed his brow and gave a shy smile. He flushed at being addressed as such, and hse could feel Mr. Todd flex his grip around the back of her neck yet again.

"A pleasure, sir," Antony chimed and Johanna nodded her greeting complete with a warm smile. Malachai looked sheepish.

"A pleasure, I'm sure," Malachai murmured. He turned much too quickly towards Ana. "The pies are out of the oven, M'am. I'll leave yeh to yehr company, m'am."

Ana bit her lip. "You can stay..." she said quietly. But Mr. Todd squeezed her neck tightly in his grip. But Malachai shook his head.

"Mum'll be glad for me to clean the house," the boy amended. With a hearty goodbye, she watched him leave. Brows knit together, Ana turned to smile weakly towards Antony and Johanna.

"Why don't we go inside?" Ana offered. And for the second time that tension broke, though Ana was sure it was just between she and Mr. Todd now. With Malachai gone, the barber seemed a little more relaxed, but he still could not tear his eyes away from Johanna. The group of four barely entered the shop when Antony suddenly exclaimed,

"Where is Mrs. Lovett?"

Ana and Sweeney Todd both exchanged a look before Ana recovered first by giving a warm laugh.

"Oh! Dear, sweet Nellie... Bless her. She's been retired five months now. She left me the shop here." Ana said, waving one arm around. Antony looked lost but he nodded his head anyway.

"Antony," Mr. Todd spoke for the first time, his voice low and gruff. It made Johanna jump. "walk with me up to me shop. I wish to speak with you- and I'm sure our wives could find things to speak on."

The men retreated up to Mr. Todd's shop and left Ana and Johanna alone downstairs. There was a small silence before Johanna seated in the booth with a nervous laugh. "I may be dreaming, but I feel unnerved- not to offend, Mrs. Todd, but I feel as if Mr. Sweeney Todd could not take his eyes off of me!" she chewed her lower lip. "His face seems familiar, but I cannot place it even if I tried."

Ana came to sit across from her, sitting side ways, her belly protesting the closeness of the seat and the table edge. "He has one of those faces," she said absently. "He may very well have been watching you, but Mr. Todd is harmless. He's like a great big teddy bear. It's just that... Mr. Todd was once married before. He had a daughter of his own, a year old kid. I reckon you remind him of her. She'd be about your age, now, I guess..."

"Oh..." Johanna murmured. There was a long pause. "How long have you been with child?" she asked, a smile warm on her lips. Ana smiled back.

"Five months about now," Ana said. Johanna gave a perplexed look.

"How long have you and Mr. Todd wed?" she asked craftily. Ana bit her lip.

"Just a month," she admitted in a whisper. Johanna gasped- but the small laugh that followed was reassuring.

"Your secret is safe with me!" Johanna promised. Ana grinned.

"I suppose it doesn't really matter- people are already talking," she sighed. Johanna shrugged her shoulders.

"It matters not. You are young, wed, and in love." Johanna laughed and, deciding that two out of three was good enough, Ana laughed along with her. The two woman lapsed into a relaxed conversation then, Ana getting back up to make the two of them some tea. Johanna talked about as much as she did when given a calm setting. They laughed and teased and bantered and when finally their husbands returned down from Mr. Todd's shop, the mothers-to-be were sitting in the parlor, talking loudly and boistriously.

"Wot's this?" Mr. Todd said in a low voice as he entered the parlor, Antony in tow. "Ana, slow your chatter, your jaw just might fall off. Finally." Ana snorted a laugh before she gahtered she should be offended.

"Oh, shut up, you," she hissed, looking surprised when the barber perched himself on the arm of her chair by her side. Antony took a seat on the couch beside his wife.

They talked all through the afternoon. Ana watched Mr. Todd watch Johanna, who seemed much more good natured about the barber and his hopelessly lost epxresison that held a pained look. He didn't contribute much to the conversation, save for a witty quip here and there. She wished she could read his thoughts. How painful, she wondered, would this metter with Johanna be for him? How much of a mood would he be in later tonight? With his revenge extracted and Johanna safe, wed, and in love, would he finally have peace of mind? Or would this push him away from her again, after all she'd done to get him as comfortable around her as he was now? Every time Ana would glance up at him as he sat on the edge of her arm chair, he would look down and meet her eyes, and in those black depths there was an emotion that she couldn't place. But she would smile and he would wrinkle his nose just the slightest. Which Ana had come to learn to accept as being enough for her.

It was late into the afternoon when Antony and Johanna finfally departed from Fleet Street. They had no plan on leaving London for a while, a few weeks minimum, and would call upon them soon again. When the couple disappeared around the street corner, Ana took Mr. Todd by the hands and pulled him through the shop, the parlor, and into their shared bedroom. he allowed her to sit him on the bed and crawl into his lap. They were silent for a long while, drinking in what had just occured. She wanted so badly to bully him into telling her waht he thought and, more importantly, felt on such a matter. But she did not want to break the silence.

It was when he thighs were beginning to fall alseep did she finally attempt to speak with him.

"How do you feel?" she questioned quietly. She was too afraid to speak loudly and ruin what little peace they had.

Mr. Todd grunted before, "Alright."

"Are you really?" she asked with a snort.

He grunted. "I'm fine," he said, biting out each word. Ana sighed and pressed her face into his neck, obviously being forgiven when he wrapped his arms tight around her middle. He pulled them both down onto the bad, tucking Ana's body close to his own. She could feel the sun streching over the bed, warming her skin. She closed her eyes, nuzzling her face into his neck. It was to her great surprise that Mr. Todd began humming to her, a soft tune she couldn't recognize. His voice had always been low, gruff. Husky even during some more private moments. She'd never heard him sing- he was not the singing time, so she wasn't surprised. But he hummed slowly, a morbid, gloomy tune.

She wanted to pull back and see if this was real as she drifted off, but her body was too comfortable pressed to his warm frame. His throat rumbled as the humming turned to words, drifting off with the tune he had been humming moments prior. She couldn't believe that he _sang_ to her, at that moment as she lay with him. But he did. He sang words she could only suspect that he made up himself- when this occured, however, she did not know.

What she did know was that it was getting increasingly harder when she told herself that she did not love him.

"_There was a barber and his wife... and she was beautiful... a foolish barber and his wife... and she was his reason and his life... and she was beautiful... and she was virtuous... and he... was..."_

She wanted to ask what, but she was already drifting off to a much needed and appreciated nap.


	9. Chapter 9

**title** Scream

**author** pinkeop

**summary** From now on when I think of you, I scream. -Companion Fic to Girl Anachronism- -AU-

**authors note **Alright... This is REALLY HONESTLY a FILLER CHAPTER and this chapter is rated **M**_** FOR A VERY GOOD REASON**_. If things of this nature make you uncomfortable, please take heed and scroll past anything you find too offensive to your eyes. I don't wanna get my story taken down for keeping it T and throwing this chapter in there, so I'm giving you a **VERY GOOD WARNING THAT THIS CHAPTER IS RATED M** and would love it if no one reported me.

Reviews? Well, that's different matter then! As I said, Filler chapter, LOTS of fluff, loves of... erm... well, you know.

The things Mr. Todd are saying are from the songs "Addicted" and "Favorite Damn Disease" by Saving Abel and Nickleback.

This story is going to be a LOT long that Girl Anachronism, and there is a PLOT ABOUT TO COME INTO PLAY!

And I guess you'll have to wait for the next installment to find out!

Now, I'm gonna do again and make like ana and todd and sleep

Love!

Pink Elephants on Parade

**--**

**chapter nine**

_I'm so addicted to_

_All the things you do_

_When you're going down on me_

_In between the sheets_

_All the sounds you make_

_With every breath you take_

_It's unlike anything_

_When you're loving me _

_I know it was getting rough_

_All the times we spend_

_When we try to make_

_This love something better than_

_Just making love again _

"Yeh can't stay in bed forever," his voice said softly. He had been up for hours. Ana knew this. But she had laid in bed, her back becomming moist with sweat as the bed chamber was quite warm, and she had the thick quilt pulled all the way over her head. Her back hurt for she hadn't been able to lay on her stomach for a whole month- her normal sleeping position. She felt tired and hungry and an insationable need for something sweet and sugary. She was in a sour mood for no good reason and had snarled threats at her barber every time he came into the room to try and rouse her from her sulking mood. Since he'd awoken at dawn he'd come in every hour since eight- she'd counted. It was now nearing noon, aparantly, as Mr. Todd once more knelt at the side of the bed, not wanting to risk getting kicked again by her grumpy foot peeking out from the quilt.

"_Yes_ I can," Ana snarled from under the blanket, completely engulfed in darkness. She felt the quilt being tugged off her face and she greedily took a gulp of fresh air, peering up as Mr. Todd gazed down at her, not looking too amused by her lunacy. She wrinkled her nose at him in a miserable fashion.

"Tis noon," he aruged. "Weren't yeh just blathering to me last night 'ow yeh needed t'go to the market?"

Ana sniffed.

Giving a very heavy sigh, the man yanked the blankets off her body and the air cooled the sweat she'd gathered laying there all morning. He sat on the edge of the bed. "Alright," he said, sounded annoyed. "Alright... I'll bite- wot's wrong?"

Ana pushed herself into a sitting position, giving him a good glare, her night gown pushed up around her thighs. She knew it wasn't fair to be upset with him, but he was the one that got her into this stupid mess. It was all his fault. She hadn't even really wanted-- the guilt that that almost thought brought down on her was crushing, so instead of admitting it to herself, she got upset.

"What's _wrong_?" she snapped. "Are you _blind_?"

"I must be!" Sweeney Todd snapped. "So explain it to me woman!"

"I can't roll over." Her voice was suddenly very soft. Mr. Todd gazed at her with an incredulous expression.

"Wot?" he hissed.

"I'm fat and unattractive and I can't roll over and it's _your_ fault!" Ana whined, falling back onto the pillows and tugging the quilt over her head. She was only immersed in that comforting darkness for a few short minutes before a rough hand, probably rougher than intended when companioned with such frustration, yanked the blankets off her face once more. Instead of an angry Mr. Todd, Ana was presented with one who looked a bit uncomfortable and unsure with himself. Swallowing, he licked his lips briefly before stating,

"Ana... Ana, yerh beautiful." There was a strain in his voice- not like he didn't really mean it, but like he wanted her to believe it, so he'd _never_ have to humilate himself again by saying it a second time. Ana wasn't in a 'make this easy for sweeney' mood, so she grunted and turned her head away from him. There was a frustrated sigh from Sweeney Todd's side of the bed where she could feel him fiddling and fidgeting with the edge of the quilt. A bit of guilt entered her stomach, and she turned her head to look at him. Eyes soft, she pursed her lips and grunted out something that resembled a 'thank you'.

It always so surprised her, when Mr. Todd would laugh that low, dark, almost cruel, disagreeing laugh of his. For, if that was his way of laughing always, it sounded like he caught it off someone who died of it and would beg he didn't do it anymore(1). But it was that laugh that made Ana's stomach swoop and feel like maybe they wouldn't ruin the life of this child- that maybe they knew what they were getting into, even if they very well did not. There was a short pause in which Ana watched Mr. Todd with eyes begging to be forgiven for her earlier mood. But all was forgiven, as Mr. Todd lean down, their faces so close and their noses brushing together.

"In fact," he murmured softly, his eyes raking along her face. "Yehr quite... _intoxicating_," he breathed. Ana shuddered, feeling her throat tighten. Intimate moments between she and Mr. Todd were not at all uncommon. However, the intimate moments in which either of them said anything were almost nonexistant. His breath ghosted across her cheek as his hands suddenly gripped her forearms and yanked her commandingly into a sitting position. His hands smoothed down her arms and in one hand, laced their fingers together. The other continued down to grip her milky thigh.

Swallowing, Ana quivered. "Alright," she murmured. Nodding her head, Ana squeezed his hands gently. "Alright... I'll get out of bed."

Sweeney Todd laughed his disagreeing laugh, moving aside when she swung her legs over the edge of the bed and pushing herself to her feet. Her body was still hypersensitive from his persuasion and she took a few deep, calming breaths as she began drawing off her night gown. She was bare for only a few moments, long enough to grab her slip off the edge of the dresser. But it was also long enough to catch a glimpse of herself in the mirror or the wall. Her body had given way to smooth curves, her stomach considerably swollen, her breasts heavier as well. She'd gone from a skinny little nip to something curvy and pregnant. She'd never had a figure to speak of, so to see herself looking so... full, healthily curvacious- it was a whole new thing for her. From behind her in the mirror she could see Mr. Todd stand from the bed and could hear the old frame creak. She wasn't expecting him to draw her back against his chest, his large hands rough and demanding as he gripped her hips. His growl in her ear was low and almost cruel sounding.

"Leave it," he commanded, speaking of the slip she still held in her hands, which he'd successfully stopped her from pulling on. Ana quivered.

"What for?" she grunted. "You've been working all day to get me out of bed and now--"

"And now I want yeh back in bed," he hissed, nipping at the side of her throat. She closed her eyes momentarily. His words sent shivers up her spine, but he wasn't done. "I've never seen you look as alluring as yeh do pregnant wiv _my_ child," he whispered, running the tip of his nose over the curve of her neck. Ana felt her cheeks warm at this thought. And here she was hating being heavy and unable to roll over.

"S'that so?" Ana murmured. Sweeney Todd growled in her ear, pulling her tighter against his chest.

"Tis a fact," he snarled. He ran his hands up her sides. Ana turned to face him, looking up at him with half hooded eyes. He grinned down at her, eyes alight with mischief. It sent shivers along her spine. "In fact, you look positively delicious. I could eat you up, I really could..." his lips decended on her throat as if to prove his point. Ana's laughter was soft and quick.

Mr. Todd began backing away, yet pulling her with him under the command of his hands on her hips. Shet let out a delighted, breathy sigh. The back of his calves hit the low bed, and he yielded, dropping onto the matress, keeping his hands on her hips. She was drawn to stand between his legs and she cupped her hand around his oddly soft cheeks. He looked up at her and Ana was startled by the expression in his dark eyes. His lips connected with her bare stomach as his arms snaked around the back of her thighs and pulled her to straddle his lap. Ana placed a leg on either side of him, her belly swollen between them, her arms hooked around his shoulders. As soon as she was within reach, the barber showered her face and lips with kisses, kisses that turned desperate and possessive. For a moment, when her lips were free, she gasped his name, swallowing a delicious sound he made when she nipped his bottom lip.

"I believe," Sweeney Todd growled, his lips moving to her ear. "Ana, I believe I've become quite addicted t'yeh." Ana squirmed as his hands gripped her thighs with delicious promise. He pulled her closer, their hips ground together witht he same promise. Ana almost wished she could mold together with him at that very moment. Never let go of it. She shivered as his hot breath ghosted over the shell of her ear. "All the things yeh do," he went on calmly, though she could hear the way his voice would waver when she pressed their hips harder together. "The way you squirm for me inbetween the sheets," he whispered hotly. "All the sounds yeh make- yehr running mouth finally put to good use," he nipped lightly on the space below her ear.

Ana quivered and let out a low moan.

"Every breath yeh take," he murmured. His searching hand slithered between her thights. Ana let out a soft gasp. Her hands gripped helplessly at his back, nails digging into his skin beneath his white shirt.

It would be your misconception, reader, to believe that Sweeney Todd's motives were out of love. His reasons behind the words he said were not even sure to the barber himself. His motives hidden, his mind a clutter with the charging lust, Mr. Todd spoke the words he spoke without thinking what emotions he could evoke from either of them- emotions that neither of them could think of handling or admitting to.

"I like yehr skirts around yehr knees," he murmured, as Ana became lost in the way he spoke as his wandering hand teased the appex between her legs, still straddled on his lap. He removed his hand and she let out a cry of loss. Sliding his hands under her bottom, he heaved her off his lap and onto her back, pressed against the sheets.

"I like the way yeh still say 'please'," he hissed. "While yehr lookin' up at me," His body pressed against her own, still clothed.

"Please," Ana panted, as if to prove his very point. His disagreeing laugh was suddenly very attractive.

"Please wot, my pet?" he crooned against her hair. Ana squirmed against him, enjoying for a moment the way his body shuddered.

"This hardly seems fair," she murmured. He quirked a brow at her. "I'm completely naked and you're fully clothed." She went on. As a rebuke, he ground his clothed hips against her own and she bit her lip, drowning a moan in her vocals. "That's nice, love," she panted. "But you're still going to have to get naked."

Sweeney Todd growled and gripped her hips, angling them upward, pressing them tighter together. Her demands were lost in quiet, quick gasps.

It was not long until Ana managed to claw off his clothes, tossing them onto the floor. She could feel his resolve breaking and soon their bodies were joined together- Ana threw her head back with a loud, throaty moan, unable to stifle it to something softer. His shuddery grunt mingled with her and she dug her nails deep into the skin on his back, drawing him closer to her, anchoring him, as if afraid he would fly away in the bliss that blinded them both.

He moved his hips so slowly that he had her writhing and mewling beneath him, her breath heavy and panting. His hands gripped the sheets on either side of her head. His disheveled hair flopped over his face, a few strands tickling her forehead. His face was twisted in gaunt determination, even as her coos and mewls begged from him to move those hips faster, as Ana was sure she couldn't take the slow, torturing pace with which he forced upon her. Her thights pressed tightly against his hips and she rest her heels gently on his calves. Ana could only figure that he could not stand the teasing much longer, and with a particularly hard push, began with a pace to leave them both panting and letting soft sounds escape their throats.

Her legs tingled and the white hot sensation pooled in her abdomin. Ana felt her release wash over her and her back arched, her hands gripping the sheets. At her very peak, she murmured his name. And it was that, his name on her lips, that made him come undone and with the three more hard thrusts, his body froze atop her own, shuddering with the force of his release. Ana wrapped him in her arms as he disjoined their bodies and dropped with an exhausted air beside her. His arms folded around her, resting on her stomach his hand, rubbing soft circles. Ana nuzzled her face into his throat and let loose a shuddery sigh.

"So, my dear," he murmured into her hair. "Do you still feel fat and unattractive?"

Ana laughed tiredly. "No- but I still can't roll over..."

Sweeney Todd grinned so wide she could feel it without having to see it. "That's alright- I like yeh better on yeh back."

Ana snorted. "S'that so?" she murmured. Mr. Todd drew her closer.

"Tis fact," he growled.

The words escaped Ana's vocals before she could stop them- they came out. She hadn't been thinking them, nor expecting them. How they came upon her lips she would never know. One could spectulate that it was a subconcious thing or really more of a habit. Something one said in such situations. But in this situation, with her being herself and Mr. Todd being... well, himself, to say the words that she said was like treason and would be cause to an argument that far surpassed any arguement that they'd ever had before.

"I love you."

There was a silence following this announcement, in which Ana felt the barber beside her stiffen so quickly that she felt like she was laying with stone. She mentally kicked herself and bit at her lower lip, squeezing her eyes shut tightly. There was no reaction for the longest time. She expected him to draw away, to say something to discourage this fact. To tear her down in the worst possible way- like the way she brought him down just to keep him around, because she was sure they day he realized how she really was he would leave her. Find someone much better- she was still just a child, after all.

And she wasn't even sure if there was any truth in this statement. All she knew was that she felt _something_ that bubbled in her chest every time the man beside her looked down upon her with a softness in his expression that others did no recieve. She felt _something_ whenever he would kiss her temple or drag her body against his in the most intimate situations. She felt _something_ every time he accompanied her in public and he proundly rested his hand on the back of her neck, drawing her closer every now and again.

All she knew was that she felt _something_ for the barber- whether it was love or something like influenza, she really wouldn't be sure. Not now, not ever.

All she knew was that at the time, he seemed like a right thing to say.

Very slowly, his hand began moving in soft circles around her stomach again.

"You are young," he murmured. "Life has been kind to you... You will learn." was all he said, and Ana knew that's all he would say on that matter. She shut her eyes tightly, pressing her face to his throat so that he wouldn't have to see the stupid tears that prickled her eyes. Making her feel humilated and ashamed.

But she wasn't so lucky- the tears, the tears she didn't even know what she was crying for -leaked from behind her tightly slammed lids, staining his throat with salty droplets. The man was startled and drew her away so he could look down at her.

"Wot're yeh cryin' for?" he asked, incredulously. Ana took a shuddery breath before she tucked her face back into his throat, her arms surrounding him tightly.

"I don't know," she whimpered. He drew his arms around her, gently rocking her body against his. Being it was Sunday, the two of them lay like that, together, occasionally joining their bodies in a mess of tugging lips, kissing lips, groping hands and needing sighs. And they lay like that well into the afternoon and well into the night when the both of them finally pulled a blanket over their exhausted bodies.

--

(1) A reference to 'The String of Pearls - A Romance', in which Sweeney Todd is described to have a 'disagreeable laugh', one to come at the worst possible times where there was nothing to laugh at. It was short and sharp and cruel and many people did not recognize it as a laugh at all and often stared around the room in confusion when it occured, looking for some dying animal that could have cosed the noise.


	10. Chapter 10

**title** Scream

**author** pinkeop

**summary** From now on when I think of you, I scream. -Companion Fic to Girl Anachronism- -AU-

**authors note **Alright... This chapter is the intense plot chapter that **Ravin' Raven **has been SOOOO supportive and helpful with. And I apologise if it's not up to parr- you see, my best friend was strangled to death two nights ago and I just wanted to get this up because... well, because it's an easy way to escape from reality for a while, you know?

So, here... it's a bit confusing, but here this is how the chapter kinna goes-

Ana's POV in present.

Ana' POV remembering back a week ago.

Ana's POV in present.

Man's POV remember back a week ago.

Ana's POV in present.

I think...

I tried to model this chapter's format like a fun chapter I read in String of Pearls... but probably failed.

Enjoy?

Not a lot of love,

Pink Elephants on Parade.

**--**

**chapter ten**

_So if you, you peel away the skin_

_You'll find the strong survive they can't always win_

_I'll stand up, to the shallow end_

_You won't see me drown when I sink or swim_

"You've been so jittery!" Johanna pointed out as the two women sat in the pie shop as Ana cleaned up the last of the dishes. She looked at Johanna with narrowed eyes and pressed together brows. Their respective lovers were both upstairs, but whatever they were speaking of was a mystery. Ana sighed heavily and paused in her cleaning, rubbing her hand over her stomach. Johanna was right- she was jittery. Nervous, even. A week prior, Ana had a confrontation that sent that following weeks events in motion.

It had been the following Monday than when we last joined the barber and his wife. Ana had been cleaning up after a long day, her and Malachai laughing together in the court of the shop and Sweeney Todd had finally left their overly joyous presence, now down in the bakehouse doing some little diddy Ana had requested of him. But, mostly down there because he wouldn't have to stand their loud laughter and giggling. The two of them scrubbed the tables side by side, talking of all things to be talked about.

"Me mum nearly boxed me sister when she found 'er wiv--" Malachai was cut off suddenly as he glanced over to her with a wide grin- but that grin faded as his eyes focused passed her. Ana turned to see what he was looking at, and noticed a nicely dressed man crossing Fleet Street and stepping towards the gate around the court. He wore a tall hat and a jacket made of fur. Ana stood straighter and placed her hands on her hips.

"Hello, there..." she mumured to herself. "What's he doing here?"

It was not a man she recognized as a customer, but noticed that he had been up and down Fleet Street several times. But he never would stop in, not even for a shave. Ana placed her hands on her hips and glanced at Malachai, raising her brows. As if he understood her unspoken words, Malachai set down his rag and jogged up to the gate, leaning against the rungs.

"Sorry, sir," Malachai said as the man came to a stop. "But we're closed- come again to-morrow."

But the man didn't look at Malachai- he looked around him, to Ana, who had gone back to cleaning the table idly. "Excuse me," the man said, an lush accent donning his vocals. "Mistress Todd, is it?" he asked.

Ana looked up and exchanged a glance with Malachai. Slowly, she made her way over to the gate. "I'm Mrs. Todd, yes?" she asked softly. "What can I do for you, sir? I'm afraid that we haven't any pies at the moment."

The man's face was pale when he looked at her, and his eyes were a sharp green. Under his hat she could see his brown hair falling over his face. He was charmingly handsome and young. But he did not smile at her- no, he looked down at her with a pulled back lip, a grimmace if you will, and he looked past her, up to Sweeney Todd's shop. Ana looked over her shoulder as well- he had yet to come up from the bakehouse.

"I am coming to you Mrs. Todd to ask of a favor," he spoke with an air far greater than her own and leaned on his cane quite lackidasically. "Your husband is a barber, yes?"

Ana sighed heavily. "If you're looking for a shave, you'll have to come back in the morning. Mr. Todd is down in the bake house for me at the moment."

The man slammed his cane down against the grate of the gates and Malachai and Ana both jumped. "Please, m'am," he said slowly. "You'll do your part by answering my questions and nothing more."

Malachai touched her back when he saw her hands clench the grates of the gate. Her jaw tightened and she raised her chin. "Of course, _sir_," she snarled.

The man's smirk was disgusting to her. "Very good," he murmured. "It was during May that my brother called upon Mr. Todd. It was afternoon, and he was to meet me for lunch afterwards at mine. He did not show up and I have reason to believe that he did not tread farther than the threshold of Sweeney Todd's tonsorial parlor."

Ana felt her face grow pale, but forcing herself to keep her voice, she cleared her throat, "Now, sir... You can't expect me to remember everyone who grace my husband's door," she said.

The man sneered. "I do believe, at the present time, he was not your husband, nor were you the owner of this... _fine_ establishment." His lips twitched.

Ana smiled sickeningly, reaching behind her to grasp Malachai's hand tightly. She could feel the body squeeze it back. "Now, sir..." she said softly. "As I said- Mr. Todd has a lot of customers every day. He's hardly familiar with all of them."

His cane snapped sharply against the gate, and Ana took a large step back. "Do not lie to me, woman," the man snarled.

"Sir," Ana snapped. "You will be sorry if you don't take you and your half baked ideas off my stoop--"

"Ana!"

Malachai jumped away from Ana and let go of her hand, and the woman turned to peer at who had called her voice- Sweeney Todd made his way across the court. He seemed at ease, unawares of the threat this man posed. "Wot 'ave I told yeh 'bout talkin' to strangers?" he asked, with an almost teasing air at him. A pity he was in such a good mood about to be thrust into such an uncomfortable situation. "Who is this?"

Ana glared at her husband before turning the stare onto the man. "I don't know," she said growlingly. "He hasn't told me his name."

She relaxed as the barber placed his hand around her shoulder, pulling her closer.

"Pardon," the man purred. "You wife was just giving me information that I seeked about the disappearance of my brother... She has been _quite_... helpful."

"Of course, sir," Mr. Todd said, his voice suddenly very flat.

"Until we meet again..." the man said, tipping his hat.

After that, Ana had noticed the man across the street, every day, watching her establishment, but more importantly watching as men went up and down from Sweeney Todd's palor. It gave Ana chills to think about as she worked. She even spent a good twenty minutes down in the bakehouse before Mr. Todd dragged her back up, scolding her about going down there in the first place, what with the state she was in. She wasn't able to tell Mr. Todd how unnerved that man made her. She figured he didn't even notice his presence every day for a week across the street.

--

Ana sighed, dragging herself back to the present as she looked up at Johanna, who sat with her chin in her hand. "I know," she answered finally, shaking her head. "It's just this man, you see... Been standing outside my shop for a whole week. All he does is stare. He comes from the moment I open to the moment I close, most times later until all the lights are out." She shook her head again and looked past Johanna and her face paled.

"There he is," she said quietly, nodding towards the window. Johanna turned around on her stool and peered out the dingy window. Ana had been right- as was per usual for this time of the morning, the fair dressed man stood on the other side of Fleet Street with his pale skin, green eyes, tall hat and fur coat.

"He looks about as friendly as a drunk," Johanna said, wrinkling her nose.

Ana found it easy to laugh- at least at the moment. The day carried on as normal as could be- however, right before dinner time, as Ana sat with Malachai inside the shop, she noticed that across the street the man had disappeared for a short amount of time. As everyone came rushing in to get a nice hot pie before they were all sold out, around seven pm, he returned, but this time was bold enough hover by the gate, periodically checking his waist coat watch.

It was the peak of the dinner rush- Ana felt tired and her belly was getting far to heavy for her to speed around the court. But she worked past it, taking any help Mr. Todd would give her greatly, and at once put him to work whenever he hadn't a customer. She was just turning to pour some ale for a pleasent, plump woman when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Thinking it was perhaps her husband, the baker turned with a smile to brighten the room- but it was just two very offically dressed men- officers, she suspected by the badges on their chests. With wide eyes, her smile faltered.

"Hello, gents," she said politely. "What can I do for you today, sirs?"

"M'am," the taller one said. "If you would, please, step this way with us?" With a sharp grip on her arm, Ana was pulled rather harshly towards the gate- but not outside it. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Malachai give a startled glance in her direction. People were beginning to stare. Bless his heart, Malachai took off across the court and flung himself up the steps to Sweeney Todd's shop. At least someone was about to come to her rescue.

Ana turned her eyes towards the man in the fur coat, on the other side of the gate, safely out of her reach. "This is her- the mad one!" he explained in a loud voice that echoed over the court- over all of Fleet Street. Ana's brows drew together- she didn't understand. "Mad as any of the lunatics in Bedlam, I should say!"

"Under what proof do you accuse her?" said the second officer, more portly than the one who gripped her arm. She recognized him as the man whom she had inturrupted in the middle of a shave- the little cut on his cheek was scabbed over, almost completely healed. Her stomach dropped to her toes. The man in the fur coat wrinkled his nose and raised his chin.

"I have spoken to her- and heard her speak, and whatever comes out of her mouth can't be called speaking! She raves!" The man snarled, slamming his cane down on the gate. Ana jumped at the sudden sound and let a cry escape her throat. Fear began to grip her all around- surely this wasn't happening, not to her, not now! All she had done was argue with this man. Gotten fed up with him- annoyed. She hadn't even laid a finger on him, but he deserved a good wack in the head!

"See, there? See how she screeches?" the man objected. "Mad as they come! And look there- at her stomach? Bloated with child and yet the priest that married her tells me she's been wed not more than a month!"

Ana could feel the tall officer clench her arm. "You're insane!" she snarled, taking a step towards the gate- but was promptly pulled back. She swung one fist out and caught the officer in the gut- he grunted and doubled. Roughly- enough for her to fear for the child in her stomach -the portly man grabbed her by both arms and detained her flailing limbs. But that did not stop her from shouting obscenities at the man behind the gate- screaming at him. Telling him to tell the truth. But he only smiled at her in a sick, disgusting way.

But in order that we may in its proper form relate how it was that the man in the fur coat had the daring to publicly accuse Analise Todd, and how it was he seemed to be getting his way, of madness, we must devote to him an explaination that will plead his extenuation.

--

His name was James Tiberius York, son of the high-court justice, and his mission for five months was to find what had happened to his closest brother, Jason York, on the summer of 1846. He'd disappeared May 20th, the day which the two brothers had made plans to meet for dinner time. James had sat at the resturant until closing time- he could only thus come to the conclusion that something had happened to his brother to prevent him from meeting him for dinner.

A week passed with no word and that was when James began his investigation. He wasn't a detective of any sorts but he did what he could. He was charasmatic, James was- and he knew this and often used it to his own advantage. With a soft smile and those green eyes, James easily got information out of anyone he talked to. But nothing helped. He got street names from Bell Yard to Fleet Street. Nothing anyone said calmed the nightmares that ailed James' mind about the disappearance of his dear brother. The only other person in the world that knew him as well as he knew himself, and most certainly vice versa.

He was all he had left.

It was a nippy October day, as James was strolling from Bell Yard onto Fleet Street, that something hit him quite hard, so hard that he had to stop and take several deep breaths. _Mistress Lovett on Fleet Street has opened the room above her as a shop for a barber_, Jason York had said that warm May day. _Perhaps I shall go take a look_.

With this information as his only lead, James had promptly found his way to Mrs. Lovett's Meat Pie Shop, a place he'd never visited before, finding it not as lavish and fit for a man of his standing. When he arrived across the street, however, it looked to be completely empty and two young people- a pregnant woman and a boy a bit younger. Stopping a bystander on the street with a snap of his cane, he leaned to the messanger boy he'd accosted.

"Can you tell me the name of the barber who lives above this fine establishment?" he asked. The boy looked up with wide eyes before turning to look across Fleet Street.

"_Easy shaving for a penny, good you'll get as any- _S'what it says above the door, sir. Tis true, I should say, Mr. Sweeney Todd is the best barber this side 'o London, sir. An' there's 'is pregnant missus, cleanin' the court. She's a real lady- gave me a free pie once cos she said she hope 'er son looked like me!" The boy squeaked with delight. James snorted and pushed him along, no longer caring for what he said. That's all he needed- with an arrogant air that he so deserved to strut, the man started towards the gate of the court.

The young both with whom Mrs. Todd worked met him at the gate.

"Sorry, sir," the boy said. "But we're closed. Come again to-morrow."

James was not interested in him, not in the least. His attention rested past him- on the young red head who peered at him with the same curiousity. Raising a brow, he placed a hand on the grate of the gate. "Excuse me," he called. "Mistress Todd, is it?"

Mrs. Todd dropped her wash rag and started towards the gate. He noted the way her hands held her stomach very tenderly, rubbing it lightly, as if soothing the child inside. James raised his chin.

"I'm Mrs. Todd, yes," she said- her voice was light and soft, but it was a weird quickness about it. As if she had to reign herself in from speaking too much. "What can I do for you, sir? I'm afraid we don't have any pies at the moment..."

James looked past her, towards the barber shop. Candle light flickered against the windows- the dingy dark windows. He had reason to believe that his brother had indeed stopped there at Mr. Todd's parlor- and he had not traveled any farther. But to prove it... how? And then, once he had gathered such proof, what would he do? It had been months. If there were any evidence at all, there was none left now. And to get to it would be extremely difficult.

"I am coming to you Mrs. Todd to ask of a favor," he spoke with an air far greater than her own and leaned on his cane quite lackidasically. "Your husband is a barber, yes?"

The woman nearly cut him off, shaking her head, her red hair falling down from it's messy up do. Jame's felt his annoyance raise slowly. "If you're looking for a shave, you'll have to come back in the morning. Mr. Todd is down in the bake house for me at the moment." Mrs. Todd said boistriously.

How dare she just talk over him like that? Did she not know her place? James slammed his cane against the gate and reveled in the way she jumped in surprise, her hands holding her stomach tighter. Child of the devil, probably. James wrinkled his nose. He leaned forward slightly. "Please, m'am," he drawled. "You'll do your part by answering my questions and nothing more."

Mrs. Todd didn't look pleased, but he was satisfied when she grit her teeth and answered him with a stotic, "Of course, _sir_."

"Very good," he murmured. "It was during May that my brother called upon Mr. Todd. It was afternoon, and he was to meet me for lunch afterwards at mine. He did not show up and I have reason to believe that he did not tread farther than the threshold of Sweeney Todd's tonsorial parlor."

Mrs. Todd looked very uncomfortable, and that only gave him further reason to believe what he did. Jason York had not been seen farther than Sweeney Todd's parlor, James decided, and the way the pregnant mistress tugged nervously at the hem of her apron was further proof. , "Now, sir... You can't expect me to remember everyone who grace my husband's door," she said, her voice breaking.

James leaned forward, hoping that intimidation would scare the truth from her. If he made out like he knew all he secrets, perhaps she would relent and repent and he would be able to send she and her husband off to the gallows like they deserved- or perhaps a worse existance tucked away in some deserted corner of Fogg's asylum where the screaming lunatics would surely turn them mad, if they weren't already!

"I do believe, at the present time, he was not your husband, nor were you the owner of this... _fine_ establishment." James said in a low voice, as if it were a secret.

The smile Mrs. Todd gave him enraged him and his hand tighened around his cane. He'd like to bludgeon her until he told the truth he seeked. She tilted her head, in an almost sympathetic way, but it was condescending- and who was she, a simple baker with a demon's child, to be condescending to _him_?

"Now, sir..." she said, still with that smile on her face, the one that made him want to hurt her badly- because she _knew_ and he _knew_ she knew and she still kept that smile. "As I said- Mr. Todd has a lot of customers every day. He's hardly familiar with all of them."

Raising his cane, Jame's snapped it against the gate at the last minute, figuring it would not help his case later if he beat her to death. He felt satisfied when she jumped back and uttered a small cry of surprise. "Do not lie to me, woman!" James snarled.

"Sir," the pregnant misses cut off, "You will be sorry if you don't take you and your half baked ideas off my stoop--"

James had his rebuke on the tip of his tounge, but the sound of a man calling what he could only assume was Mrs. Todd's name stopped him, and he raised his head to gave upon what could hardly be called a gentleman. The barber himself had pale skin, like a ghost, and a mismatched mane of black hair, a streak of white winding out from his temple. He looked as if he'd never smile a day in his life, save for only in a crazy fit. He towered over his misses and the young boy who had curiously lept away from her the moment her name had been called.

"Wot 'ave I told yeh about talkin' t'strangers?" the barber- Sweeney Todd -said with an air about him that was, to James' surprise, not entirely seriously. "Who is this?"

Mrs. Todd looked back at her husband and then to James when the man came up behind her and rested his hand on the back of her throat. James found this a curious way of holding someone. "I don't know," Mrs. Todd snarled. "He hasn't told me his name."

Thinking it easier to deal with the woman alone than now with his husband to fight her battle for her, James straightened up and took his cane of the gate and stopped it on the cobble stone under his feet. ""Pardon," James' related smoothly. "You wife was just giving me information that I seeked about the disappearance of my brother... She has been _quite_... helpful."

"Of course, sir," Sweeney Todd said with a cold tone. James forced a smile onto his face and with the tips of his fingers, tipped his hat.

"Until we meet again..."

Oh, and soon! How soon they would meet again! The moment James took his leave, he returned home and could not sleep he was so restless. It was during the middle of that night that James pondered and planned- like a perfect machine he planned. When he had looked upon Mrs. Todd, she had been curvy and healthily built with child. A body he could not deny that would excite any man immensely. But she was small, and frail, and he could tell by her wrists, which had been knobby and boney. She would not have the physical or mental strength to...

To cause a disappearance.

Besides, anyone who had entered Mrs.Lovett's meat pie shop had been found fine. It was his brother, who had obviously gone up for a shave, who had not tread any further alive- if at all. But what would cause Sweeney Todd to kill? An innocent man, one what had done him no harm?

James tossed and turned all night, thinking on this, but gave up after several failed attempts to figure out why the world had done him wrong.

He would never find proof of this unless he stood outside and watched every day and every night. But then when would even he find time to slumber? And that might not even work.

A vendetta formed over the night for Sweeney Todd, and James suddenly wanted him dead. Or locked away, or hung, his neck snapped as James took a young lady to watch the excitement of a public necking. Of coures, that would never happen, not without proof. His mind plotted and formulated- what else could he do to make Sweeney Todd just as miserable as he had made him in the months that he had taken away his brother's life- for now he was most, most certain that it had been Sweeney Todd who had done the deed, and some how gotten the body- or bodies? How high was this count? -safely away in the dead of night.

But how was he to do this? James wondered. Through his window, that night, he heard a cackle- a high pitched insane cackle and he shoved it off as a half-crazed begger in the streets. It seemed like London's streets were turning into her own Bedlam--

_Bedlam_.

James sat up that night with a crazy if excitement. He would lock them both away in Bedlam! No, not both... _her_. Mrs. Todd. He would take away, what seemed, to be the last thing Sweeney Todd would touch, as he remembered how the man had placed his hand so unconventionally on the back of her neck, as if he could menuver or man handle her better that way. Keep her close to his side should he desire so she never got too far from him. She was all he had left, James mused, and he would take her away and force her into an asylum so terrible that they would find her dead in her bed the very next morning! Ha! Ha! Ha!

James began his plan. Every day he would wait and stand outside Mrs. Lovett's pie shop and, while he would switch his attention to the barber shop every time someone went up for a shave, he mostly watched it, picking out odd habits he had never seen before. Every bystander he could stop he did and spoke to them about Mrs. Todd.

"Oh, odd one she is," a young girl had said. "Never seen'a woman much like 'er, if I 'ave to say so."

"I heard she was pregnant out of wedlock," a young man with sickly pale skin had said. "But, she's married now, you can ask Father Collins, so I guess..." but he had trailed off when his friends called him from down Fleet Street at the corner of Park-Lane.

"Mr. Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Analise Todd?" Farther Collins had seemed very eager to share all he knew. "Married a month ago- they seem to wish forgiveness for their sins, what with Mrs. Todd being so very pregnant, I have spared the rod. Yet I don't believe their child can be saved..." he had shook his head solmnly.

"She talks _all_ the time!" an old biddy had related. "She even speaks to herself, or though I suppose she's speaking to that illegitimate child of hers..." at this point the woman had sneered in the direction of Mrs. Lovett's Pie Shop. "But you can't really call what she does talking- tis more like the raving of all the lunatics in Bedlam! If you are looking to put her there, sir, then I greatly support your decision to do so!"

That was all he needed, and after a week, James Tiberius York strod across Fleet Street with a purpose and a plan. Analise Todd would not see the light of day without the marr of cell bars ever again.

--

And now, reader, that we have given James- a very vengeful, evil man as it can be assumed -his time for explaination, this leads us back to the present situation at hand, which would be our dear Ana being accosted by the police on either of her arms, as she and the man in the fur coat had stare donw to end all stare downs.

"Wot's this?!" Sweeney Todd's voice gave instant comfor to the pregnant woman and Ana twisted in her binds to peer at her husband, who charged through the crowd that had formed. "_Unhand her_," his voice was so low, so demonic, that Ana feared slit throats would be the fate of all present.

"Sorry, Mr. Todd," the man- known to you, secretly, reader, as James -said. "But I'm afraid they can't do that- she struck an officer, with _illegitimate _child and I believe, it's easy to tell, your wife is mad as all the lunatics running in the streets!"

"Mad?!" Sweeney Todd shouted.

"Mad!" James snapped and with an air he pushed open the gate. "Take her, gents," he said smoothly. "The coach is just around the corner."

Ana's eyes widened- she suddenly felt like she knew her fate. But this couldn't be happening- no! This was just a bad dream. She felt a small bit of hope when both officers exchanged glances and looked down at her- but then they began towing her away and Ana screamed a scream to make anyone not used to such lunatic sounds draw back in terror. "No!" she screamed. "I'm not mad!"

"Ana!" Sweeney Todd screamed, throwing himself against the gate- for he knew he could do no more at the look in his eyes when Ana glanced back at him tore her apart. Tears leaked to her eyes and Ana thrashed and kicked and screamed and gave the officers a good fight. But they were strong than her and easily over powered her.

"I knew she was mad," the portly officer grunted. "Running up to that shop all wild and twitching- I knew this one was mad the moment I saw 'er!"

"Todd!" Ana screamed, twisting back to peer at her husband's face. He was standing outside the gate, looking helpless.

"They shall all die, Ana!" He shouted after her. "For dead men tell no lies! Nor women, nor children! And they sall _all_ die, and after which, I think, there shall be a serious fire in Fleet Street!"

It was the last words for comfort she heard before the coach door was closed on her and her fate was sealed.


	11. Chapter 11

**title** Scream

**author** pinkeop

**summary** From now on when I think of you, I scream. -Companion Fic to Girl Anachronism- -AU-

**authors note **I want to thank EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU who have left me a review in regaurds to my best friend. Her name was Josie Pena, and along with her died her mother, Louie Rose. I don't claim to have known Josie better than anyone knew her, but I knew her better than most, than some at least, and she shared her thoughts and feelings with me and like wise, and she saved me from myself on nights where I would have otherwise lost my own life at my own hands. She was funny, and she was warm and intellegent and oh so beautiful. Her wit was sharper than a knife and she went to great heights to entertain and humor her friends. I was lucky enough to be one of those friends.

If you could keep their friends and family in your prays, I'm sure those who believe in God ( though I'm severely lacking in that department ) I'm sure it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for all your love and support, especially **Ravin' Raven **and **andaere**. You're amazing and I only wish I could see your faces and thank you for all your support.

On to chapter 11, then, shall we? I'm sorry for the massive-for-me delay, but I'm still a bit... you know, shaken. I'm greatly inspired by V for Vendetta right now more than Sweeney Todd- but our Sweeney is still as vengeful as ever.

Love!

Pink Elephants on Parade

--

**chapter eleven**

_I remember, I remember everything_

_all the times when no one ever came to get me_

_all the nights when I was scared_

_and when it got too weird_

_it was the songs that saved me_

Everything was cold and dark and damp. Ana had never thought hell would be so murky. It had all happened so quickly that her head was still spinning. Her entire world had turned upside down, all in the matter of one night. When Ana had been accosted into that coach, she'd screamed until her throat was raw. The carriage rattled down unknown roads for maybe half an hour. She couldn't understand what she'd done to merit this, but the sicks mile that the man in the fur coat had given her was burned into her memory, mocking and sneering. Every time she closed her eyes, he was there, staring at her, sealing her fate.

When the carriage stopped, Ana was alone for a short while, thus giving her time to sit and think and wallow. She pressed the heels of her palms against her eye lids and let a jagged sob shake her body until her head throbbed in pain. She almost blamed Mr. Todd for not doing more to stop this- why had he let them drag her away on such a ludacris charge like lunacy? But of course, knowing her Sweeney Todd, this wouldn't go without consequence. This thought only lent her slight comfort, because a moment later her heart lept in her throat when the coach door was flung open. Ana drew back to the far side of the cab. Standing before her at the open door was a man as ugly as sin with a harsh counterance and wild hair, a white over-coat hanging over his large frame. A cry was uttered from Ana's throat when he reached in to grab her.

The ugly man grinned a nasty grin and grabbed her by the arms. It didn't matter how hard she struggled against him- he towered over her and clearly overpowered her small, pregnant frame. He handled her so roughly that she severely fear for her unborn child. For a short moment, Ana allowed herself to gaze around her as the man dragged her along. The carriage had stopped outside of a gate, a taller gate than Ana had ever seen, preventing easy escape of any sort, the likes of which her captor was pulling her through. The building was tall and towered over the streets, made completely of stone. High above the ground, small windows were cut into the walls, bars crossing the windows. Screams and wails emitted from the building, sending gooseflesh all up Ana's arms. Before she knew it, she was being pulled through two big oak doors and her fate came crashing back. A cry escaped her throat and with new found determination, Ana struggled wildly against her captor.

"Let-me-go!" she shouted. "I'm _not_ mad- I don't belong here! Let me go, or I'll--" Ana was swung back, her shoulders crashing into the wall, the stones scraping her as knees buckled and she slid to the floor. She daren't fight any more- should the man take to slinging her against her belly next. With a grin like the cheshire cat, he pulled her roughly to her feet. Ana didn't dare look around her- only at her feet.

"But were _all_ mad here," the man said lazily. "You, I, and all your new brothers and sisters! We're _all_ a mad family here."

"I have a family," Ana said quietly. The man laughed and suddenly they were in this odd hall way, with stone walls on either side and it was cold and damp and when Ana looked up there was little light, only a few candles every few yards. She blinked rapidly and when she stopped to gaze around her, she was pulled roughly along with no mercy.

"This is yeh family now," the man crooned. Soon the cramped hall opened up to a larger aisle, with rooms on either side- not rooms, cells. Mad-house cells. Ana felt another cry escape her throat and she shook her head.

"No!" She shouted. "I don't belong here!"

She was shaken quite suddenly and the man slapped his hand over her mouth. Her screams were suddenly muffled, and she was pushed along. With one hand still tightly gripping her upper arm, the other moved away from her mouth where her sounds died to whimpers, and fished a big key ring out of his jacket pocket. He pulled to a stop at a room where she could see through the small window that the moment the key entered the lock, bodies scattered and screams emitted from the room.

"You're right," the man snarled. "You belong right... in... 'ere!" and with that, the door was pulled open and Ana was thrust inside. Luckily, not too hard and she gained her balance again. Ana turned around the moment she was in the room and screamed as the door closed right on her face as she slammed her hands against door.

"No!" Ana screamed, pounding her fists into the door. "No, no, let me out! Let me out!"

Hands encircled her wrists so suddenly that she jerked back and shook her head and screamed louder. "Hush," a voice said in her ear. "Hush! Don't scream- they won't hear you. They never hear you. Scream all you like, but there's no one out there to listen."

Ana turned around slowly. She was confronted with wide blue eyes and messy brown hair, porcelain skin that was married with cuts and dried blood and dirt. Her hair, that had once possibly been very soft, hung ragged around her pale face. The woman before her ran her hands from her wrists to her elbows and she moved her away from the door. "There, now," the woman said softly. "It gets easier if you don't scream."

Ana looked around the room- the cell. The walls were made of stone, cold and wet and Ana realized she was shivering like mad. There were about twenty or more women all crammed into the tiny cell. More women than there were cots pushed against the walls, that's for sure. Each woman was cowering from where Ana and the other woman stood, all of them wearing the same tattered dresses, all of them dirty and messy and for all Ana knew, crazy.

Ana whimpered. "I don't belong here," she begged, though not knowing why. It wasn't as if this woman in front of her would be able to help any. "I'm not mad, I swear!" The young woman with the big blue eyes hushed her and wrapped one arm around her shoulder, pulling her away from the door. The other women watched with anxious eyes.

"No matter," the woman crooned. "We're all mad here."

Ana felt a sob shake her body- what was with that saying?! She _wasn't_ mad! She was as sane as anyone! The woman menuvered Ana to sit on one of the cots. The other women, Ana noticed, were listening intently.

"Hush, now," the woman purred. "The more you stress, the more danger your little child is going to be in."

Ana took three deep breaths, wrapping her arms around her swollen stomach. The woman nodded gently. "Good," she said softly. "There now, Miss...?"

"Ana," Ana whispered. "Ana Todd." The woman's look was sorely sympathetic.

"There now, Miss Ana, your Valerie's here for you now." The woman, now known to Ana only as Valerie, seemed kind enough for a lunatic and Ana allowed herself to be wrapped in the woman's arms, pressing her face into her neck and sobbing until she couldn't possibly cry any more.

Ana _couldn't_ cry any more. Not after surviving the day time- which was, she learned, much harder than surviving the nights. At night, she slept, curled up on a cot next to Valerie with a thin sheet covering her shivering body, allowing the other woman to spoon her body so that they both fit on the cot. During the day, she sat and stared the walls and listened to the lunatics in her cell screech or mumble or tell stories- the stories, oh the stories! The tales that they came up with! Ana knew they surely belonged there, but not her. No, Ana was sure she did not belong there in that mad house. During the day, you would hear someone outside the cell at annual intervals, and sometimes you would hear a door near by open, and then the sound if a screeching man or woman being pulled away and down that dark hall. When this would happen, Valerie would shake her head and bow it, as if praying for a few silent minutes.

Valerie was an odd woman. She was not much older than Ana, maybe twenty one or twenty two, and yet she seemed to force herself upon the other women as a leader of sorts. When one of the women would screech too loudly in the middle of the day, it was Valerie who would sooth them or cuff them into submission. They weren't _human_ here, they were animals, all locked in too small of a cage, waiting for someone to take them home- or in this case, waiting for death. Ana attempted to stay as calm as one could in a place like this, fearing for her child. She'd never been pregnant before- she didn't know what to do, how to keep in safe inside her stomach while her hormones were already causing such a rollercoaster of stress and emotion while at the same time being encased in a cold, lonely, dark place when lunatics shoving and screeching and murmuring to themselves.

Food was scarser than on the streets there in that cell. They were fed three times a day- once when the sun was just peeking over the horizon, allowing little warmth to pass through the single barred window, again when the sun was highest in the sky, and once more after the sun had set. They got bread and porriage- which was watered down and tasted sour and old. The bread was often moldy. But it was food, and Ana devoured it, eating for her child if not for herself. Valerie, after three days of this, began tearing off the non-molded parts of her bread and giving it to Ana, as well as half of her water-y porriage. The other women didn't seem to notice the favored treatment, and if they did they let it bed out of pity.

But it wasn't out of pity that those lunatics let her have the extra meals. Ana had once thought she'd been shoved in a random cell, the man all too eager to get rid of her. But if that were the case, then he would never find anyone ever- not that he needed to know their names very much. Ana was in a cell with women who'd all be pregnant out of wed-lock. She learned this from Valerie, who had lost her only child a month after being in that hell hole. This was the only cell for their 'kind', because there wasn't a high demand for them to be put into the mad-house, and when they were they died off far too quickly.

"Everyone else was a successful birth," Valerie had related to her one cold night when they sat in a small group, all huddled together to steal warmth from wherever they could. The nights were getting more unbearable now. "Not that we ever saw our children again. Probably tucked away in the workhouses, never to be seen again..."

It gave Ana a new perspective on the so called lunatics that stared at the windows and called out names through the bars of the single window. They were all mothers- lost mothers, who hadn't even seen their children for longer than a few moments after they'd given birth. Probably didn't even get to hold their babies in their arms. It was this thought that had Ana sobbing every night- without word to the outside world she was doomed to die alone and her child thrust to a workhouse and she never would be able to see it. And she would never see Malachai, or her Sweeney Todd ever again. It was a fate that Ana had a hard time resigning to.

The nights got colder, the days shorter, and her belly bigger. She wasn't sure how long she was there, but it had to at least be a month, because at night she could feel her baby pushing and kicking at her stomach, eager to move about and make her sick during the nights. This, at least, gave her hope that she would easily go full term with her little one. And yet this thought made her weakly sob- because she would never see it again once it was born. Sweeney Todd would never know his son or daughter. She almost wished that she had drowned it in gin that night long ago when she had the chance. At least she would have saved it from such a fate.

It was one cold night when the mundane was shaken up quite violently. It was just after dinner had been thrust upon them, and Ana was nibbling on a piece of bread, sitting side by side with Valerie and another woman named Sara, who seemed to have taken the strangest of likings to the other woman. A screech of sorts echoed from outside the heavy door and Ana snapped her head in the direction of the sound. It was one yell that was soon followed by others, causing the hair on the back of Ana's neck to stand straight up.

"What is that?" she whispered to Valerie as the woman stood and moved towards the door. There was a square cut into it with bars across it, and she stood on her toes to peer through it. Ana could hear more screams and then it wasn't even just screams- foot steps, running. "What's going on?" she asked.

"A cell's been opened...?" Valerie related unsurely.

There was an instant commotion among the women in their cell. Ana winced as there was a rush to look out the little window in the door, but Valerie took care of that quickly with a few well aimed shoves and an animalisitic, guttural snarl that had Ana's back pressed as far against the wall she it would allow. She watched as she woman pulled herself onto her toes.

"_Rats in the grass and the lunatics running in the streets it's the end of the world- yes!"_ a few women began chanting, rocking back and forth, tugging on their hair and clothes.

Ana tried to keep her mind from overreacting, running her hands over her stomach. If there really had been a break-out Ana had no doubt that anyone that stepped foot outside that cell without being dragged away would be caught and severely punished. There was no escape.

No escape.

"Hush!" Valerie shouted, pressing her ear to the door. "Someone is calling a name..." There was a long lull, before Ana could hear it too. It was soft and most likely at the end of that long, dank hall. It got louder the closer it got to their cell.

"...Ana! ...Ana!"

The young mother's breath caught in her throat as the sounds got louder.

"We're in the middle of a break out!" Valerie said with surprise.

"Shut up, boy!" A second voice snarled and anyone who had ever heard it before would instantly recognize the face that went with it. "'Ere, take this, opening that cell should give us only momentary distraction. And 'ere, take this!" that was a pause as Ana forced herself to her feet and move to the door. The voices were louder. "Kill, if you must."

"I shall kill a thousand jailers if need be to set her free!" Another short pause, in which Ana could picture hesitation. "But Mr. Todd-" Ana held her breath and her heart hammered in her chest. "-If I take the pistol-"

"I've killed 160 men," Mr. Todd snarled, no joking in his voice. "One child, and one woman. Without the use of a pistol. I'll be fine. Now go, quick, find her-"

Ana's fists came down on door and she beat on the wood. "Malachai!" she shouted, but Valerie was pulling her arms and snapping at her to shut up. "Malachai, Todd, I--"

"Shut up!" Valerie snarled, yanking her back from the door.

"There!" A voice shouted from the other side. "Open that door. Find her, and bring it out the way we came- and _kill_ if you _must_."

The women in the cell screeched and lept back from the door as the sound of keys in a lock came from the other side. Valerie had one hand clapped over Ana's mouth and hidden them both in the back of the huddle in the corner of the cell. She felt somewhat... kidnapped. Trapped. Perhaps Valerie thought she was protecting her, but Ana wanted nothing more than to run into her boys' arms. Ana whimpered but her voice was lost in the sound of the lunatics.

The door was opened with a loud crash- the women screeched and pulled away. Valerie held Ana tight.

"Miss Ana?!" Malachai's fretting voice called and Ana couldn't explain how excited and happy she was to hear him. A man's voice calling her name frantically in search of her. To save her. Ana reached her hands up and yanked Valerie's hand away from her mouth.

"Malachai!" she shouted, but it was drowned in the screech of the women as Malachai stepped further into the room. She could see him from where she tucked herself away. He held a pistol in his hands, looking hesitant yet determined. As he advanced on the small huddle in the corner, the women threw themselves out of his way, leaving a path to where Ana and Valerie were. Malachai looked like he'd been stopped in his tracks and Ana's breath caught in her throat.

"Ana," he breathed. Ana shrugged Valerie's hands off her.

"Let go of me," she snarled, pushing the woman back. With her heavy stomach, she pushed herself to her feet and met Malachai half way, being caught up in his arms, a crushing hug that would never be as close as she wanted it to be, what with her belly in the way. Six months, that's how much Ana had counted. Three more to go. Smelling Malachai's flour-scented presence again gave her hope that she wouldn't be carrying this child in vain.

"We have to go," Malachai said quickly, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the door. Daring one last glance behind her, Ana caught Valerie's gaze and the older woman looked paniced, then relaxed. She nodded and that was the last sight she caught before she was pulled by Malachai and turned, face to face with the long dark hallway that no man nor women ever returned from.


	12. Chapter 12

**title** Scream

**author** pinkeop

**summary** From now on when I think of you, I scream. -Companion Fic to Girl Anachronism- -AU-

**authors note **Hey, all! I know, chapter 11 was messed up and wouldn't let some of you review twice, but that's ok, because I know you're all out there and love me anyway! A few even PMed me such sweet reviews! You know who you are! This one's for you guys.

A few have wondered about sweeney and his 160 men- not that was not JUST in breaking Ana out, lmao, that was over the months that he spent killing with Nellie and Ana. Historically, Sweeney Todd killed 160 men along side the pretty young widow, Mrs. Margery Lovett who owned a pie-shop in Bell Yard and through the sewer systems, Sweeney Todd would take the bodies to her celler where those who made her pies never got to see the meat used.

Just a little history for you guys there... And, **Andaere** guessed it- some exchanged happened between Sweeney and Malachai that we didn't see for him to be so open about his serial killer past. Doesn't seem like Malachai's too bothered at the moment, does it? Har. Anyway- It's time for chapter twelve!

Without further ado!

Love!

Pink Elephants on Parade

p.s, much love to hannah for suggesting the band tilly and the wall. 8

p.s.s, THIS CHAPTER IS PAINFULLY LONG.

p.s.s.s, i want my own girl.

--

**chapter twelve**

_The city looked wonderful that way_

_And love just like blood will always stain_

_And if I could reverse it I don't think it would be worth it_

_I know in my heart I would never let you tumble to the ground_

_No, I'll never let you go_

Ana felt like her lower belly was going to explode by the time she and Malachai made it down the long hall. She didn't dare ask how in the world they found her, nor how they managed their way inside. All she knew was that Malachai held her hand tightly and moved with impatience along side of her. He was leading her away from that damp, dark hell. That was all that mattered.

"You have no idea how amazingly happy I am to see you," Ana said breathlessly as they pulled to a stop outisde a thick oak door. But the screeches of the lunatics inside the nearby cells drowned out her words. Nonetheless, Malachai simply clenched her hand in his own as he edged open the door. On the other side was another dark, smaller and more narrow hall- but shorter. She could see the door at the other end.

"Come on," Malachai said, pulling her into the second hall. When Ana looked at him, his face was harder and more gaunt than she remembered it being. "On the other side of that door is Mr. Todd and a coach to take you away."

Ana didn't connected "you" with a singular pronoun and simply clutched his hand as he pulled her down that second, dark hall. Her heart thundered in her chest at the very thought of her barber on just the other side of that door. With her other hand, she held onto her belly tightly. Escape was so close she could taste it on her lips. When Malachai threw the door open, Ana wsa hit with a burst of cold air. The breath of fresh air after being locked and cramped inside the same cell without a chance to bath for any of them was like a starved women placed in front of a banquet. Ana took deep, heavy breaths, greedily sucking in all she could. On the other side of that door was an alley way. A dark alley way. Before Ana even had the chance to shiver, Malachai was already shrugging himself out of his jacket and wrapping it around her shoulders.

_Yes_, Ana thought determinedly as the taller boy wrapped an arma round her shoulders and began to pull her to the mouth of the alley, _hiring Malachai was on of the best things I've done._

Around the corner of the alley, Ana and Malachai were met with a sight of a waiting carriage, it's cab door opened wide, a dark figure leaning out of it. The sight sent Ana's pulse hammering through her viens. The shrieking could be heard from inside the building still and this caused the young woman to grimmace in distaste. But there was hardly a thing she could do about it now that she was being thoroughly ushered away from that madhouse. Ana fancied that she could even smell the vanilla that usually rolled off her barber in delightfully abundent waves.

Ana gripped Malachai's hand tightly and pulled him towards the carriage. She let go for only a moment, when the figure moved out of the shadows of the carriage, stepping onto the cobble stone and into her vision. He met her halfway to the reunion and Ana almost burst into more tears the moment she was back into Sweeney Todd's awkward embrace. He didn't speak but instead simply wrapped his wide arms around her shoulders and crushed her carefully to him, making sure to keep her stomach from getting smooshed. He didn't smell like vanilla, like she'd hoped- no, he smelt foul, but she breathed him in like a man without air. They stood like this for only a few short moments, but she reveled in those moments with Sweeney Todd's face pressed into her tangled, dirty, dingy hair that smelt like grim and vomit, no doubt. When she pulled away from him she frank in the fresh air more greedily.

"Come on," Mr. Todd ushered urgently. Ana turned half way around and grabbed Malachai's hand, who had been standing quietly a few feet away from the reunion. She couldn't understand the look of surprise on his face when she tried to pull him with her to the coach.

"No, Ana," Malachai said softly. His face was taunt. Ana furrowed her brow in confusion. "When I said the coach was for you, I didn't mean me. You're going- I'm not."

Ana felt Mr. Todd menuvering her back. With a force she didn't know she had, Ana pulled away from the barber and grabbed both of Malachai's hands in her own, so tight that her knuckles began to turn whiter than her alabaster skin.

"Don't be stupid, Malachai," Ana demanded. "You're coming, too." She turned sharply to look at Mr. Todd. Oh, what kind of paniced expression would he see there? She could almost picture her face- caked with dirt and grime, forest eyes wide with complete desperation, hair a mess around her face. "Come on," she said harshly. "tell him he's coming with."

Mr. Todd bowed his head, gripping her arms tightly in his large handed, iron grip. "Come on, Ana, it's time to go."

Ana gripped Malachai's hand, not daring to let him go. As she was being moved back, he was moving towards her. She thought for a moment that he was giving in, but then as the two men helped her into the coach, Malachai didn't make a move to get in. Mouth agape, she clenched his fingers in her tiny fist.

"No," she demanded. He wouldn't even look at her. His head was bowed and his messy black hair blocked his big sea side eyes. Ever so carefully, Malachai pulled his hand from her own.

"Malachai, get in!" she snarled. Mr. Todd grabbed her by the arms and not so lovingly pulled her away from the door of the cab. "Get in! You're coming with!" she begged.

"Stop it, Ana!" Sweeney Todd snarled, causing her to fall still and quiet out of mere surprise.

She turned her eyes onto the cab door, but Malachai was already closing it, his hard face turned away. A small cry was uttered from her throat as it clicked into place. A sharp crack echoed and whomever Mr. Todd threatened to drive the cab far away from that mad-house ushered the horses into a frenzy and down the cobble-stone road through London they went. Ana's heart dropped to her stomach. Something int he abck of her mind wished desperately that the coach would stop and Malachai would board the cab and run away with them.

Suddenly, Sweeney Todd pulled her to him and tucked her face into his chest, burrying his own into her hair. She felt his arms tuck themselves around her and hold her close. Despite wanting to feel angry with him and Malachai the same, she couldn't deny that in his runaway coach was the safest she'd felt in weeks. She was free! For the most part. They would not be chased after once out of London, granted that Mr. Todd hadn't been stupid enough to kill everything that got in his way.

"Let me look at yeh," Sweeney Todd demanded of her after a few rocky minutes of silence in which all that was heard was the horses foot falls on the cobble stone and the wheels on the road. Shifting in his seat, Mr. Todd held her at arms length. Ana wondered what he saw when he looked at her. She felt dirty and vile. But she could see his facial expression change. From hard to livid. She winced and turned away.

"Bastards," he snarled, pulling her close again. Ana tucked her legs under her on the seat. The barber held one arm around her shoulders, the other resting possesively on her large belly.

"E's growing," Mr. Todd murmured in half amazement. Finding her voice, Ana tilted her head up to look at him.

"Who says she's a he?" Ana whispered weakly.

Mr. Todd laughed a disagreeing laugh and pulled her tighter. "We're togever," he said gruffly. And then, softer. "All of us."

Ana could tell how uncomfortable it was for him to articulate anything, much less what he actually felt. So she did not press or tease him as she would if they were sitting in the parlor or the shop. She let it be, let him be, and enjoyed whatever it was he felt for her. Because to steal her away, it had to be something he felt. Slowly, after some time, Ana lifted her head and chewed on her lower lip.

"Mr. T," she murmured. "Can I ask you something?"

He didn't answer for some time and Ana had almost given up, placing her head back against his chest.

"Wot?" he murmured after some time.

"Why'd you save me?" Ana questioned quietly.

"...did yeh 'onestly ask me tha'?" Sweeney Todd snarled. She tried not to find amusement in his sudden irritation with her.

He was silent for a short while and she figured he wasn't going to answer her. "Cos yeh aren't mad," he said finally. "And if'n yeh can't accept that, then I did it fer my son."

"Daughter," Ana grunted as a rebuke. He held her tighter. "Would you have missed me?" she asked weakly. Mr. Todd shook his head and Ana could feel his cheek brushing against her tangled hair.

"I s'pose," he grumbled. "T'was far too quiet wivout yeh."

Ana's laughter sounded hysterical and with the way he tensed, she knew he could fear the subtle lunacy as well. "Where are we going?" she questioned next. He gave a very heavy sigh, letting her know that he wasn't even sure.

"Far away," he grunted.

Ana's eyes fell upon the two bags on the floor of the cab and figured that he had hastily packed whatever was needed before they made the great escape. Her stomach dropped. Though she knew once they were away from London everything would be safe agai, her heart still sank to the pit of her stomach. Where would they go, where would they live? Ana curled both arms around her stomach tightly, biting her lower lip until her mouth flooded with droplets of blood. Where her hands rested, she could feel her child pushing against it's home inside her womb. She smiled faintly.

The coach was slowing. "Are we there?" Ana asked curiously. Mr. Todd grunted.

"Hardly!" he snapped. Sliding away from her the man moved to the small opening where the driver could communicate directions with his passengers. "Why are we stopping?" the threat behind those words were worse than the words themselves. Ana couldn't help but shiver herself.

The driver was obviously shaken. "There's a gale brewin', sir!" the driver said. "It's snowin', sir, but it's gonna get worse. I can't go no further than this sir or I'll never get back to London!"

Mr. Todd clenched his jaw so tight that Ana could see the strain. The barber opened the door to look outside. A burst of cold air hit her again and she peered out sneakily. It was all dark out there, but she could see, faintly, they were far out of the city and somewhere in the country. Faint lights from houses dotted the landscape. Ana felt fear grip her, but Mr. Todd shut the door tightly.

"Take us to the next 'ouse," the barber snarled. "And yeh shall surely be a good Christian indeed."

"Yes, sir," the driver answered back. Ana settled against Mr. Todd again as the carriage began moving again.

"Where are we?" Ana begged. Mr. Todd sighed.

"Relax," he said. "We're far enough."

When the coach stopped for a second time, Mr. Todd wasted none hoisting the bags over his shoulders and grabbing her hand. When he opened the door, the cold wind hit her roughly. She winced, stepping down out of the cab. The driver had pulled them up to the gate of a two-story home, candle-lights shining from all the windows and a mere warm look emitting fromt he household. Sweeney Todd held tightly to her hand and lead her through the gate and up the short dirt walk to the front door. His hand let go of hers and his fist came crashing down on the door.

"Mr. Todd," she said quietly.

"Hush, Ana," he commanded.

"Mr. T, I feel sick," she gasped out.

Ana felt sick and dizzy as the door was thrown open. She turned her head at that moment to look up at Mr. Todd. It was all too much too soon. She could feel her body shutting down, her mind begging for just the shortest of breaks. To her right she heard a voice but her eyes were already drooping. The sound of the bags hitting the ground were lost to her and the next thing she knew, Mr. Todd was wrapping his arms tight around her and she was swung into his hard, cold, stone arms.

The next thing Ana was aware of was that something was tickling her face. She felt more rested than she had in months and had the urge to just roll over and sleep some more. She was so comfortable. But something was still tickling her face. Opening her eyes, Ana was met with a soft, warm sunlight streaming through a high window. As her eyes snapped back and forth, she realized it was not a room she recognized, nor was it anywhere near the cell she'd grown used to waking up in. As she shifted, she realzed she was cacooned inside of a warm, soft quiet, tucked in a warm soft bed, with a warm, crackling fireplace right across from the bed. Shifting, Ana found that she was not in her tattered, dirty dress, but rather in a soft, cotton night dress. Her skin was porcelain again, no longer caked and coated with dirt. She felt her head, her fingers tangling in her hair. It was washed but not brushed. Never brushed.

Ana tried to remember how she got there, but the last thing she could remember was looking over at Mr. Todd as he banged on a random house door. And then everything was dark. Running her fingers through her messy, tangled locks, Ana sat up, looking for waht had been tickling her face. Laying beside her on the bed was a small, black ball of fluff with odd patches of white and orange. It had been the small fluff ball's tail that had been tickling her face, curled up by her side, Ana realized. Reaching out one hand, Ana gently brushed her finger tips over the soft fur of the cat that lay curled by her side. It mewled and lifted it's head, blinking it's big honey eyes at her.

"Hello, there..." Ana said curiously. "Do you know where I am?"

The cat meowed at her and laid it's head back on it's paws. Sighing, Ana pushed the blankets off her legs and swung them over the side of the bed. The cotton night dress was soft and warm and she pushed for a moment to wriggle in delight. It'd been too long since she'd been in anything but that old, tattered dress. Ana gazed around the room. The walls and every available space were stuffed and crammed with books. Besides in a library, Ana wouldn't remember seeing so many books in one place. She wanted to read them all, just lay in this warm room with the little tortoise-shell cat and read. But even more she wanted to know where she was.

"I bet you know exactly where you are," Ana said grumpily, turning to look at the sleeping cat, who opened it's eyes up to glare at her. Reaching out, she scooped the cat into her arms. It mewled unhappily at her but other than that allowed her to cradle it on top of her swollen belly. "Come on," she encouraged the tiny animal, even if it was already trapped in her arms. "Let's go see where we are."

The door to the room was already propped open and gave way with a tiny nudge. The hall way was a lot less comfortable but not as cold as that cell had been. T he cat in her arms began purring as she slowly began walking down the hall, towards the sound of voices. The end of the small hall turned sharply to the right and opened up to a bright dining room and kitchen. A wood stove made it much warmer than the hall and the smell of bacon sizzled away, overrunning her senses. Her mouth watered and she let the cat jump out of her arms, the unhappy little beast taking off back down the hall.

Cooking was a pretty young woman, older than Ana, but then again everyone seemed to be. She had her backed turned, but she could see that she had beautiful blonde hair, twisted up in loose curls. She wore a very blande, very brown dress, not the prettiest thing Ana ever saw. She kept her mouth shut, almost afraid to disturb her, as she was quite joyously tending to the skillet over the fire. Laid on the table was a breakfest fit for a king- oatmeal, eggs, bacon, a pitcher of milk, bread, and the woman was not sliding something else onto a plate and off the fire.

From around the corner of the kitchen came a man Ana did not recognized- he had brown hair pulled back in a ribbon and wore clothes that looked like he'd been at work long before she had awoken. A smile warmed his otherwise cold, hard face the moment he saw her.

"Well, well, well!" he said. He had a very kind voice. The woman at work spun around in surprise, meeting the man's eye before noticing how awkwardly Ana stood. Jumping in an odd menuver of delight she clapped her hands together.

"Oh, thank goodness, yehr awake! Yehr husband 'as been so worried 'bout yeh," the woman crooned, moving and wrapping a gentle arm around Ana's shoulders. "We didn't know when yeh were going to wake up! You 'ad us all worried to death."

Ana blinked in confusion. "Sorry?" she asked. "How long was I...?"

"Three days t'day, deary," the woman said quietly. Ana's heard leapt in her throat. "I should say yehr well rested now!"

"Where's Mr. Todd?" Ana asked. He was sorely missing from this combination.

"Oh, relax, dear. I should say 'e's still in 'is room up stairs. Tried to bother yeh by sleeping int he same bed but, no sir, I wouldn't have none of that. Micheal, be a dear and go fetch Mr. Sweeney Todd," the woman paused to look at what Ana could only assume as her husband. "Let 'im know mummy is well, rested, and awake."

When Micheal left, the woman manuevered Ana to sit at the table in front of all the food- she tried to keep herself from drooling. "Sit you down, now. Yeh must be hungry. Would have made us poor Christians indeed to 'ave seen you pitchin' and tossin' out in that gale an' not offered yeh a place to stay."

"Yes, thank you, I'm starving actually," Ana said excitedly. Then, as if remembering her manners, she smiled sheepishly. "Pardon, I don't believe I caught your name..."

The woman laughed warmly as she turned back to the fire. "The name's Rosetta, love. nd yehr Analise, aren't you?"

Ana nodded. "But you can call me--"

"Ana!"

The sound of her name made her turn her head quickly. Sweeney Todd entered the cramped kitchen on a mission and flanked to her side the moment he saw Ana sitting well and awake at the table. He dropped to his knees and took her face in his hands and gently kissed her full on the mouth.

Flustered, Ana simply smiled. "You're alright?" he grunted, running his large palms over her cheeks and hair.

The way Sweeney Todd and Analise Todd acted around each other, moved, talked, spoke, laughed and smiled, was in a way like no other. It could not be denied the intensity under which the two of them looked and spoke to one another.

"I'm alright," she said, kissing his nose. This act of affection caught him completely off gaurd and he scowled at her in response to her playful grin.


	13. Chapter 13

**title** Scream

**author** pinkeop

**summary** From now on when I think of you, I scream. -Companion Fic to Girl Anachronism- -AU-

**authors note **...I wasn't expecting this to be the last chapter but lo and behold- It is! I know, you're all like "WOT MAN?" But it is the last chapter.

With a crappy epilouge at the end. I realized I couldn't drag this out any longer despite how much I wished I could.

BUT DONT WORRY! there's a squeal of sorts for Scream. So look out for a new story by yours truely, **Panic Prone**, which will be a series of one-shots that have to do with Ana, Sweeney, and the baby- who you have to read to figure out who it is! -smile-

So... enjoy?

Love!

Pink Elephants on Parade

**--**

**chapter thirteen**

_A Bone shatters, fall apart and hit the floor_

_If it doesn't thrill you it doesn't matter any more_

_Bones shatter, baby don't go out this time_

_No matter where you've been or who you are_

_If it doesn't kill you it's sure to leave a horrible scar_

Rosetta and Micheal McDaughs had a beautiful family, a beautiful home and a beautiful life. They lived in a small community outside the large, poisonous city of London. The country side was dotted with farms. Their closest neighbors were plenty acres away. Their home was nestled between a thicket of trees, sheltering it from the early winter gusts, making for a very cozy house hold. Ana had never been far outside the city before, so when she and Rosetta went for a stroll around the land on a sunny afternoon- the snow that had fallen on the night she and Sweeney Todd had come upon them now gone -Ana was utterly fascinated. They owned a stable and horses, which Ana was afraid of, and pigs that they sold for pork and a coop of chickens and a big, bossy rooster, that Ana was also afraid of. On the side of the house there was a hutch where three fat rabbits were kept.

Rosetta was a mother of two- three year old Avery and five year old Robert. Avery was just beginning to speak in full sentances and had pretty, blonde hair that was always in a pink ribbon. Little Robert didn't _stop_ talking and he followed his mum around with big green eyes and a mop of blonde hair on top of his head. Both were pale and the perfect picture of what a family should be- a mum, a dad and two pretty little children. They made Ana eagar to have her own child- certainly eager to have another. Mr. Todd, however, seemed to scare the children. Ana could understand why.

Mr. Todd insisted that they leave as soon as convient the day Ana awoke, but Rosetta, bless her, insisted they stay. "We don't get many visiters," had been her arguement. "We'd love to house yeh until we can get yeh a coach t'take yeh to wherever it is yeh need to be, eh?"

Mr. Todd hadn't been happy about this but after eyeing Ana's pregnant belly, agreed to stay for a few days until Ana was perfectly well and a coach was gotten for the continuation of their escape. Rosetta had been thrilled and Micheal was happy to see his certainly eccentric wife happy. Ana of course couldn't help but be content with their disposition. There was indeed a higher power to bring them safely to such a nice home. Their luck was sure to run out sooner or later. But for the moment, Ana enjoyed the company of the people that they were presented with.

And so, this was the very reason why Ana found herself sitting in front of the fire place in the parlor on a small mountain of pillows on the floor, while behind her sat Mr. Todd. And in a rocking chair to her left sat Rosetta with talkative little Robert on her lap. Micheal was in a chair opposite the couch and pretty baby Avery sat beside Ana on th floor, resting her tiny hands on Ana's belly. All would have been relaxed and quiet, if Robert wasn't chatting away, if Ana wasn't swearing under her breath as Mr. Todd yanked a brush through her disasterous head of hair, and if Rosetta wasn't cracking up at the very sight. Yes, it would have been nice and quiet indeed- if not for that.

Ana winced as her barber yanked the brush through her hair. "God's, woman- with my perfession yeh'd think I'd seen it all. But ne'er in my life... 'ave yeh ever brushed this?"

She rolled her eyes as he set the brush aside and began working at a particularly unappealing knot. "Never have and I don't see why you insist now," she grumbled. But she wouldn't admit that she liked this small bit of attention that he had bestowed upon her, even if he had startled Rosetta when he grabbed Ana by the arm roughly and forced her to sit there on the floor. But this was his way of showing that he atleast gave two shakes about her either way. That's all Ana asked. He didn't have to love her. In fact, since she'd blurted those three little words, neither had even said it, not even as a pet name.

She never said it again- she'd brushed it off as something she said out of impulse and he'd brushed it off as just another thing she'd said and nothing more. It didn't matter if they were in a loveless marriage, not really- they felt _something_ and that's all that mattered. Perhaps not the perfect little life that their hosts had, but something that ran too deep for any of them to dare look into.

Little Avery rubbed her hands over Ana's belly, and the young woman smiled fondly at the child, who looked shyly up at her. Reaching up one small hand, Avery grabbed a free lock of hair. "Can I brush it?" she asked shyly.

Ana blinked, taken aback by the bluntness of the little girl. "Of course," she said. "Climb on up on Mr. T's lap." A grin broke out across her face as Avery stood from where she sat beside her and climbed onto the couch. Rosetta was laughing and Micheal could be heard hiding a snicker- probably at Sweeney Todd's reaction to this command and the small child now settling herself right on his thighs.

She tried not to wince and scream in distaste when the child grabbed a hand full of her hair and yanked the brush through it. "Be careful," Rosetta warned. Avery took little heed and Ana bit her knuckles when the girl yanked the brush through her poor hair again and again. It must've been Sweeney Todd's punishment for her, but he figured she'd had enough, obviously, because he chuckled deeply, which caused Avery to practically drop the brush. Poor thing.

"Like this," she heard Mr. Todd say behind her, and soon the brush was being guided through her hair, most of the knots taken care of. Ana bit her lip again, this time to stop the wide smile from spreading across her face. She glanced over at Rosetta- she _was_ smiling, big and warm and Ana only wished that she could picture the scene behind her.

"All done," Avery announced. Ana laughed and shifted so she could look over her shoulder. Avery was sitting comfortably on Mr. Todd's lap, leaning her tiny head back against his chest and Mr. Todd sat with the brush in his hand, looking down at the child in complete confusion. He glanced at Ana and she smiled brightly at the scene. He looked just like any new parent- scared shitless. She rubbed her belly, chuckling and shaking her head.

"Have you thought of a name for the baby?" Micheal asked as he stood from the chair and moving to pick Avery up from Mr. Todd's lap. When the child made a nosie of protest, he kissed the side of her head, bring her back to his chair. Ana watched warmly as the little girl snuggled into her father's big arms and she held affectionately onto her stomach.

"Yes, actually," Ana said brightly. She'd given this little thought but had her heart set on names the moment she knew she was pregnant. Of course, she'd never once talked to Mr. Todd about it. It just wasn't a conversation that came up. Ever. Mr. Todd looked down at her oddly, his brows knit together. He obviously hadn't been expecting a positive response. Ana smiled pleasently at him and he grunted in return.

"Alright," he said gruffly, sounding exasperated. "Let's 'ear it."

Ana laughed and leaned her body back against his legs. With the simple affectionate gesture he began brushing the knots and tangles once more out of her hair. It was much more soothing now that the job was basically done.

"Well," she began thoughtfully. "I was thinking 'Emszi' for a girl... and maybe 'Edward' for a boy."

"What kinds of names are those?" Mr. Todd snapped. Ana snorted.

"Good names!" she argued.

"I think those are _lovely_ names," Rosetta defended. Ana smirked triumphantly... until Mr. Todd gave a particularly hard yank at her hair. She hissed in discomfort.

"_Ow_," she said pointedly. The soothing brush strokes continued. "And I suppose you have better names?"

Mr. Todd was quiet and Rosetta laughed as she bounced Robert on her knee. "Pick your battles, Mr. Todd," the older woman warned. "Your wife has quiet the sharp tounge. You might get cut." The barber simply grunted. Ana's laughter echoed in the room, mixing soon with Rosetta's.

"And I suppose you have better suggetions?" Ana teased her husband. Soon, Mr. Todd wasn't even brushing her hair any more, but rather playing with the smoothed tresses, his fingers rather soothing on her scalpe.

"I have a _list_ of better names," Mr. Todd snorted. Ana rolled her eyes, pulling her head away from the barber. Holding her stomach in one hand, she heaved herself up onto the couch beside her barber.

"S'that so?" she challenged playfully, settling at his side. He grunted, looking utterly uncomfortable. He wasn't good socially for long periods of time. She figured he was just about reaching his limit with this social sit-down. She was just about to suggest they retreat to their guest room, which he was now allowed to sleep with her again in, and snuggle the night away when Avery may have admitted the cutest thing Ana had ever heard-

"Mummy, do I get anover littul girl to play wiv?"

Rosetta opened her mouth to respond, then closed it with a sigh. She shook her head. "I don't think so, love. Mr. Todd and his wife are only staying a couple more days, and--"

"But we could come and visit once the baby is born, couldn't we, Mr. T?" Ana interjected. She liked Rosetta and her family. And once she was no longer pregnant she saw no reason why they couldn't possibly see them again. Sweeney Todd looked utterly flabbergasted and he cleared his throat, a scowl fixing on his face.

"Ana-" he began. But, Ana being Ana, happily talked over him, leaning over the arm of the couch so she was closer to young Avery.

"Would you like that?" Ana asked. "If we came back to visit with a little girl?"

Avery smiled shyly. "Yes," she answered.

"Ana--" Mr. Todd tried again, sounding slightly irate. And again, Ana ignored him, turning to look at Rosetta, who was snicking quietly at the whole situation. Ana knew that dear Mr. Todd didn't like when she talked too much, but what he liked much less was when she talked over him and cut him short. Two things that she did very often.

"You wouldn't mind, would you Mrs. McDaughs?" Ana asked, ignoring the way that Mr. Todd glared at her, a sneer on his lips.

"Oh, heavens, no!" Rosetta gushed. "We get so few visiters! Me sister, sometimes from Wessex, but other than that we's quite alone out 'ere. You two come 'round as much as you can, loves! D'you know where you're 'eaded?"

Ana shook her head, but Mr. Todd grabbed her wrist and jerked her roughly to face him. "Ana, _shut up_ or so help me God..." he paused and the room fell silent. She swallowed her next statement. He slowly released her arm and Ana could feel the familiar throbbing of a newly forming bruise. He didn't look apologetic- just annoyed. He turned his attention onto Rosetta, who wore a very shocked, surprised, confused look on her face. His expression did not change. "Do not think us ungreatful for all that you 'ave done- we are. But I don't think we'll be able to visit as often as my wife would enjoy. You understand, of course?"

Ana could feel her face turning red. Rosetta looked alarmed, but sympathetic. In the end, Micheal cleared his throat and all eyes were on him. "It's understandable, of course, Mr. Todd. But you are always welcome here- our home is your home."

Mr. Todd nodded stiffly. Ana's jaw clenched and she stood up with as much graceful flourish as she could manage. "Well, then," she said, irritated. Why did Mr. T have to be such a kill joy? She was sick of being alone, because he wasn't much company. Here Rosetta was offering her a place to be a place to go. And this place was so perfect and quiet and out of the way of everything. Mr. and Mrs. McDaughs had such a beautiful life. Ana hated to admit that she knew her family would never be as perfect or beautiful.

"I think I'm going to bed," she said evenly, giving a polite nod to Rosetta and Micheal. Robert and Avery peered at the confrontation with wide eyes. As she turned to leave, escaping down the hall to the guest bedroom, she heard Rosetta give a quiet, worried sigh.

"She's upset."

"She's always upset," was Mr. Todd's moody reply.

It was much later and Ana was still awake in the guest bedroom, deciding that Mr. Todd was not going to come to bed with her- she figured he didn't want to face her wrath. Which had been, at first, nothing to be reckoned with as she had been very unhappy with him. But now she was actually rather mellow, sitting up against the pillows on the bed. The fire was still crackling away and a small pile of books were sitting around her on the bed. They were novels about love and filled with poems. They were soothing to read there on the bed infront of the fire.

She'd finally a book of poetry down after getting half way through it. She sighed and placed her hands on her stomach. Part of her wished Mr. Todd would so being sour with her and magically meander back into the room. She was lonely. She wanted somebody to talk to. Or talk at. Ana looked down her nose at the very round, very big belly that seemed to be always in her way nowadays. How long was it, now? Seven months? It had to be honing in on that.

Ana tapped her finger on her stomach, the belly hard under the ruffled fabric of her dress. "Hey," she said quietly. "You in there, baby?" she asked. She felt silly to be talking out loud to an empty room. But instead of stopping, she settled down and tapped her stomach again. "How's it going in there?" she asked. There was no response, other than the small feel of something pressing against her belly.

It always surprised her when the baby kicked, and she smiled brightly, tilting her head to look down better at her tummy. There was something in there- alive and a part of her. _Her_ child was in there, growing and warm. She rubbed her stomach soothingly as the baby gave her a particularly hard kick. She winced. "Ouch, hey," she murmured. "Quit that shit."

Ana sighed and rubbed her stomach as the kicking subsided. "I know it's warm in there," Ana said. "It's not particuarly nice out here... but you'll have to come out soon, you know. But... you have a Mummy who loves you and a Daddy who... well..." She paused, chewing on her lip. "Your Daddy is a strange man. But he loves you. Even if he'll never say it."

She winced again as she felt her muscles tighten- it certainly didn't feel like the child kicking. It faded after a few moments of Ana tensing uncomfortably. "I hope I'm the kind of Mum you want," she went on, ignoring the acute cramp. She attributed it to the intense stress she'd been going through. The baby was moving around all fine like. There couldn't be anything wrong with it. "I talk a lot, and Mr. Todd- that's your father, you know -tells me that I could run a whole country into lunacy. I know I'm different... I was born different. I'm an anachronism. S'a big word, it's ok if you don't know what it means yet."

She laughed softly, her abdonmin tightening and a second cramp causing her to grunt in pain. She hissed and winced. "Ow, would you stop ki...kick...ing..." Ana's sentance died off as she felt something wet spread between her legs. "...me...?" She gasped as she pushed herself up into a sitting position. Panicking, she pulled her skirts up around her knees and slid her hand between her legs. It was wet. When she pulled her hand back up, her fingers were coated in watered-down blood. The second cramp faded and she'd just sucked in enough air to call for her husband when- low and behold -Mr. Todd opened the door slowly, peering inside. He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but then his brows knit together in confusion.

"Ana?" he said softly.

"Sweeney," she gasped out, for the first time using his first name. He moved into the room, closing the door quietly behind him.

"Wot's wrong?" he asked.

"Either I just pissed myself or..."

Mr. Todd moved to the side of the bed, looking lost and confused. "...O...or?" He sucked in a breath. "No, it's far too soon. Don't be--"

Ana winced and clenched her jaw. These cramps were not her friend. "Mr. T, tell that to your daughter because she wants _out_."

"You mean my son." Mr. Todd goaded before he fully realized the gravity of what Ana had said. "Wait...wot?!"

"Baby!" Ana snapped. "Ow! Ow, ow, fuckity, _ow_!"

Mr. Todd looked lost again before he strode towards the door. "Alright," he said. "I'll get Mrs. McDaughs. Don't move."

"Oh, but I thought I'd take a stroll through the park!" Ana snarled. Whatever look she managed to give him had him scurrying through that door with his tail tucked firmly between his legs. Good for him, too- she might just have ripped out his most precious and treasured part of his anatomy. The dreaded happy place that did this to her. On another thought, Ana decided that he was going to be happily de-junk'd. Never. Again.

"Oh, love!" Rosetta's voice caused Ana to looked up from her stomach. The woman had towls and rags and a basin of water that she dropped at the foot of the bed. "It's all goin' t'be alrioght, love. Two kids under m'belt, yehr gonna be just fine, love." She moved to Ana's side and eased the younger woman onto her back.

"You're alright?" Mr. Todd said softly, as he had come back to her side, knealing at the edge of the bed. Ana swallowed and grabbed his hand, lacing their fingers together and squeezing tightly.

"I'm about to squeeze something the size of a watermelon out of a hole the side of a lemon," she squeaked. "I am _not_ fine."

The word _pain_ would never in a million years describe what it was that Ana felt. Her throat had gone hoarse and dry and her hand numb, it squeezed Sweeney Todd's so tightly. She couldn't fathom the actual pain, perhaps her body numbed it for her, because after a while she stopped feeling it. She wasn't even sure how long she lay there, crying and _pushing_ whenever Rosetta commanded her to. Ana remembered, vaugely, the thought of hospitals pumping you full of the finest drugs insurance could afford. That's how she pictured having her child- in a white, steral room with docters and her loving husband and her family all waiting anxiously.

Instead she was on a bed that wasn't even her own in a house that wasn't even her own, with a husband who felt little to nothing, trapped in a loveless marriage, popping out a kid with no drugs what so ever. Not even a docter. But something gave her hope. Perhaps it was the way that Mr. Todd sat so still and stotic beside her, holding her hand tightly in his own and letting her squeeze it with all of her might. Something gave her hope and whatever that was Ana thanked them inbetween the pain.

And then... with the sound of a pitiful, gurgled cry and the feeling like she'd just pissed a pineapple... it was all over. The hand that so painfully gripped Mr. Todd's loosened and she couldn't even find the energy to open her eyes and she greatfully let her body slip into that familiar dark abyss.

When she next awoke, it was early morning and Sweeney Todd was spooning her body, his face nuzzled into her hair. She knew he was awake because the moment she turned to snuggle into his chest, he shifted so that he hovered over her. She opened her eyes and the look on his face scared her- so serious and determined. Her brows knit together. She tried to speak but had to swallow several times, and even then Mr. Todd raised a hand and pressed it to her lips.

"Would you like to meet your daughter?" he whispered.

Daughter? She had a daughter? She had a daughter! Her heard skipped several beats- though that couldn't be safe -and she raised a hand to grab his, threading their fingers together. _They_ had a daughter. Swallowing once more, she managed to speak, though her voice was weak and hardly attractive.

"Please," she whispered. Mr. Todd didn't smile, but his lips twitched, and he lifted himself onto his elbow. The door was open and in a low voice, as perhaps not to startle her, called for Rosetta. She waited eagerly, holding tight to Mr. Todd's hands. She saw that inbedded in his skin were marks from where she'd clutched his hand so tight the night before.

Rosetta came in with a small bundle of blanket in her arms. Ana tilted her head, slowly attempting to sit up. Mr. Todd tried to prevent this, but she fought him off and propped herself up against the pillows and the headboard. The older woman grinned and happily plopped on the edge of the bed. Ana held her arms out greedily for the child. Her child. Her _daughter_. _Their_ daughter.

The bundle was warm and began to squirm once she was in her arms. The baby was small and pink. She had a little button nose and long lashes and big, pudgy cheeks. Small whisps of black hair were plastered to her head. She kind of looked like her father, Ana thought with a smile. She was very small and when her eyes blinked open they were the most beautiful shade of brown she'd ever seen. Like honey. The baby seemed almost frail and Ana felt scared the longer she held her, her heart thundering in her chest.

"Wot's 'er name?" Rosetta whispered.

Ana opened her mouth, then closed it again, glance at Mr. Todd, who was settled beside her, looking down at the child with big, nervous eyes. He met his wife's gaze before turning to look at Rosetta.

"Emszi," Mr. Todd announced. "Emszi Analise Todd."

Ana felt her heart soar. Perhaps he was a killer. Ruthless. Vengeful. A loveless man. You couldn't expect him to act like you or me. But he was human. And some part of a human loved and it's safe to say, reader, that some part of Sweeney Todd loved Ana, in all her talkative, messy haired, pale skinned glory. She tilted her head and captured his lips in a surprise kiss.

They weren't the picture perfect family. They couldn't even be considered eccentric. But she had him. And he had her. And they had little Emszi Analise Todd.

--

Analise and Sweeney Todd stayed with Rosetta and Micheal McDaughs for another week after the birth of their daughter. After which they got a coach and the family waved good-bye to their new friends and away they rode.

Their new home resided in Liverpool and with the money that they'd saved with Mrs. Lovett's Meat Pie shop and Mr. Todd's Tonsorial Parlor back in London, they bought a home with a flat above for Mr. Todd to open up another barber surgeon shop. Though Ana didn't enjoy sitting at home and not working, she busied herself taking as good of care as Emszi as she knew how, and their home was often over flowing with delicious patries of different sorts.

After enough nagging, Ana sent for Antony and Johanna, and the couple soon joined their friends in Liverpool, and their son, Tristian, was born a month later. Despite Ana's efforts, she was not able to contact Malachai Wilmot back in London and it was Sweeney Todd's paranoid protective nature that kept her away from that city.

This is the crappiest mini-epilouge in the history of epilouges.


End file.
